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News ID: 76490
Publish Date : 23 February 2020 - 22:08

Iran Envoy: Iraq Capable of Fending Off Terror Threat

BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi has said Iraq is capable of defending its territories against terrorism without having to rely on foreign troops.
"U.S. military bases, no matter where they are, pose a great inconvenience for the nations and cause insecurity,” he said.
U.S. bases in other countries have basically been set up to loot their resources and undermine their security, Masjedi said.
"The United States’ claim to fighting terrorism is not true, since America itself is behind the creation and empowerment of terrorists in other countries,” he added.
 On Sunday, AFP said for many Iraqis, the grave of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Najaf’s Wadi al-Salam has become a symbol of "resistance” to America.
It reported how a minibus stopped outside the world’s largest cemetery in the Iraqi holy city as women got out and dashed towards a grave.
"Clad in black, they joined wailing women and men beating their chests in grief at Wadi al-Salam, or Valley of Peace, an ever expanding graveyard. All eyes were on the grave of Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,” it reported.
Martyred alongside top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, al-Muhandis is now revered by supporters as a martyred symbol of anti-American resistance, it said.
"His grave has become a magnet for Shiass vowing vengeance against Washington,” the news agency added.
Below a life-size portrait of the commander, a young man knelt before his grave, the wailing of women ringing around him. "May God avenge us from America,” the man screamed.
Located along aisle nine of Wadi al-Salam, the commander’s gravy has gained near-holy status. It has become a stop for the thousands of pilgrims who pass through Najaf each day to visit


 the tomb of Imam Ali (AS), son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).
"It is not just a grave, it has been transformed into a shrine,” Abbas Abdul Hussein, a security official at the cemetery, told AFP. "Men, women and children ... flock from Iran, Lebanon and Bahrain daily to visit Abu Mahdi.”
Al-Muhandis was head of the Hashd al-Shaabi, an Iraqi anti-terror military network largely incorporated into the state.
Iraq’s armed factions have vowed to avenge al-Muhandis’s assassination. They said the 5,200 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq would have "hell” to pay.
A small altar was also erected at the site of al-Muhandis’s assassination at the entrance to Baghdad airport.
Dressed in black from head-to-toe, Um Hussein said she made a 450-kilometre trek from Basra in southern Iraq to pay homage at the grave in Najaf.
"Every time we come to visit (the tomb of) Imam Ali, we will make a stop to see the hero and martyr Muhandis. It is a duty,” she told AFP.
From the early hours of the day until after sunset, the entrance to the cemetery is bustling with minibuses ferrying visitors.
Standing over al-Muhandis’s grave, tears rolling down her cheeks, Souad said she also came from Basra to honor the "hero” who "defeated” Daesh. "His death really affected us and the Hashd as a whole,” she said.
Wadi al-Salam is also the final resting place of thousands of Hashd fighters martyred during the battle against the Takfiri group.
It was on this front that al-Muhandis became a revered figure. Al-Muhandis oversaw the Hashd and its integration into the Iraqi state.
Flanked by the graves of other anti-terror commanders, Reza Abadi, an Iranian from General Soleimani’s home town of Kerman, recited a eulogy over the grave of al-Muhandis.
"We came here to show our respect for this man who is dear to Iranians and Iraqis,” he said. "The memory of the two martyrs, Hajj Qassem and Abu Mahdi, will never be forgotten.”