kayhan.ir

News ID: 57481
Publish Date : 16 September 2018 - 21:37
Condemn Attack on Consulate:

Iraqis Rally in Basra in Solidarity With Iran

BASRA (Dispatches) -- Iraqis from different walks of life have staged a rally in the southern city of Basra to condemn a recent attack on Iran’s consulate in the city.
They chanted slogans in support of Iran and praised the country’s help to the Iraqi military and volunteer forces in the fight against terrorism as they trampled on U.S. and Israeli flags on Saturday.
The demonstrators also denounced Washington rising interference in the Iraq’s domestic affairs and its efforts to stoke unrest in the Arab country.
The march came a few days after masked assailants ransacked Iran’s consulate in Basra and set the diplomatic post on fire along with government buildings and premises of political parties.
The attack drew wide condemnation from Iraqi government officials, some of whom pointed the finger at the U.S. and Saudi Arabia with the help of Daesh remnants and Ba’athists.   
Iran has been a major ally of the Iraqi government in its fight against Daesh since the Takfiri terrorist group ran over parts of the country four years ago.
The Islamic Republic was famously the first country to rush to Iraq's help in 2014 when Daesh terrorists reached the gates of Baghdad.  
Iran Sunday hailed the election of a new speaker for Iraq's parliament. "The Islamic Republic of Iran supports decisions made by the Iraqi people's elected representatives," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported Iraq's democracy, territorial integrity and national sovereignty," he added.
Iraq's national politics has been in paralysis since the May 12 national elections, but Saturday's appointments were expected to solidify new alliances and pave the way towards forming a government.
"We hope we soon witness the election of the president and prime minister to form a new Iraqi government," said Qasemi.
Lawmakers appointed as speaker former Anbar governor Muhammad al-Halbusi, a Sunni politician.
The post of first deputy speaker was given to Hassan Karim, put forward by senior scholar Moqtada Sadr whose list won the largest share of seats in the election.
Baghdad, which waged a war under former dictator Saddam Hussein against from 1980 to 1988, has come closer to the Islamic Republic after his fall in 2003.
The U.S. and its allies in the region have been wary of Iran’s rising clout in Iraq.
Several Iraqi officials blamed the U.S. for the recent unrest in Basra. Senior lawmaker Intisar Hassan al-Musawi said Friday that the presence of the American consulate in the oil-rich city was a threat to Iraq's security.
Musawi said the Americans in Basra and "some civil society organizations” were behind the recent ransacking of government offices and Iran’s consulate in the city.
Protesters in Basra are angry about endemic corruption, collapsing infrastructure, poor public services, high rates of poverty, soaring unemployment, and contamination of potable water.
Basra, once known as the "Venice of the East” because of its freshwater canals, has been hit by an acute water crisis and crippling electricity shortages this summer amid surging temperatures.
Adding to the outrage is a water pollution crisis and salt water seeping into tap water that is making residents sick.