TEHRAN – Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, the secretary general of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, warned the United States on Tuesday against procrastinating the withdrawal of its forces from Iraq, saying resistance groups will resume their attacks on American targets if the White House fails to pull out the U.S. troops from Iraq as soon as possible. 

Speaking at a press conference jointly hosted by the Tehran Times and Mehr news agency on Tuesday, al-Kaabi addressed a variety of issues related to Iraq and the future of the presence of the U.S. forces in that country. 

“The fact is that the Americans in Iraq are not looking for the good of the Iraqi people; they only seek to plunder and loot the resources of Iraq. When Iraq asks them to leave its territory, they shamelessly threaten to either besiege Baghdad with sanctions or close their diplomatic facilities,” al-Kaabi said.

He was referring to the recent threats by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who threatened to close the U.S. embassy in Iraq and then launch a military campaign against the resistance groups after the attacks on the American interests in Iraq reached a very high level over the past months. 

During a telephone conversation with Iraqi President Barham Salih in September, the secretary of state issued a stern warning to Iraq over the recent attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq, according to Iraqi news website Iraqi24.

“The decision to close the embassy in Baghdad is in President Trump’s hands and is ready… If our forces withdraw and the embassy is closed in this way, we will eradicate everyone who is proven to be involved in these acts,” the website quoted Pompeo as telling Salih.

The U.S. did not press ahead with this decision, a move that prompted some analysts to question the seriousness of the American threat to close the embassy. In October, the Iraqi resistance groups agreed to suspend rocket attacks on U.S. forces on the condition that Iraq’s government present a timetable for a withdrawal of American troops.

“The factions have presented a conditional ceasefire,” Mohammed Mohi, spokesman for the Kataib Hezbollah group, told Reuters on October 11.

The spokesman added, “It includes all factions of the (anti-U.S.) resistance, including those who have been targeting U.S. forces.”

Mohi did not elaborate on the Resistance’s conditions. But al-Kaabi gave more detail about their conditions and the behind-the-scenes discussions that led to the agreement on the conditional ceasefire. 

According to al-Kaabi, the Iraqi resistance groups agreed to the ceasefire on three conditions: first, a very clear timeframe for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq should be presented; second, the U.S. must put an end to its military presence in Iraq’s aerospace, its embassy in Baghdad, and Baghdad’s airport; and third, the U.S. must stop interfering in Iraq’s internal affairs. 

The Iraqi resistance leader pointed out that the U.S. has been given a timespan to implement these conditions, warning that the resistance groups will decisively respond to the U.S. in Iraq and shake the ground under the American troops’ feet if the U.S. continues to procrastinate.

But why al-Nujaba and other Iraqi groups agreed to a ceasefire in the first place? Al-Kaabi said some Iraqi politicians have reached out to the resistance groups, saying the U.S. wants a face-saving withdrawal from Iraq and that these groups should give the U.S. enough time to make this happen. 

But al-Kaabi, while casting doubt on the U.S. intention to leave Iraq, said Iraq is not responsible for saving America’s face.

“We reject America’s face being saved at the expense of Iraq’s sovereignty and dignity,” stated al-Kaabi, noting that the resistance groups agreed to a ceasefire with the U.S. to make Iraqi politicians understand that the U.S. will not abide by its commitments.

He added, “The language of politics and negotiations does not work with the U.S. America only understands the language of force.”

Referring to the U.S. exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -, al-Kaabi pointed out that the U.S. has a long history of not complying with its commitments. 

He also pointed to the Iraqi Parliament’s resolution calling for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq. The resolution was passed on January 5 earlier this year, nearly two days after a U.S. army drone assassinated General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps’ Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force, near Baghdad’s international airport.  The drone strike targeted General Soleimani and al-Mohandes shortly after they moved out of the airport on their way to Baghdad. 

“The United States did big foolishness and targeted the martyrs of victory quite openly inside Iraq. I need to emphasize that the revenge of the resistance following the assassination of the martyrs of the resistance is not over yet. This revenge will not stop until the last American troops leave Iraq,” al-Kaabi asserted. 

He added, “The fact is that the blood of the martyrs of the resistance has borne fruit. One of the most important fruits of the blood of the martyrs of the resistance has been the formation of various groups of resistance. The resistance has so far dealt a deadly blow to the American body. These massive and deadly blows have led the U.S. government to put pressure on Baghdad and threaten it with various means.”

According to the secretary-general of al-Nujaba, it is completely wrong to say that the withdrawal of the United States from Iraq is the only demand for resistance.

This is a national demand, the cleric added. 

“Not only the various groups of the resistance in Iraq but also all Iraqi people from all walks of life are calling for the withdrawal of American troops. Eventually, the Americans will have to leave Iraq and go home forever,” said al-Kaabi, adding that the resistance groups will never back down on their demand that the U.S. should leave Iraq. 

He also warned about an American plot to wage a new war in Iraq to disintegrate the country after the U.S. November 3rd presidential election. 

“Things will not change after the election. The Iraqi brothers should get ready for a new American war and sedition in Iraq. A war that is intended to disintegrate Iraq,” cautioned al-Kaabi, warning, “It makes no difference whether Trump remains U.S. president or Biden takes office. Both of these individuals are the backbone of a security system in the United States and are the only pillars of this security system. Whoever moves into the White House for the next four years, we should expect sedition and machination from him.”