Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid during his visit to Tehran on 29 April that Baghdad should not allow a single US soldier to remain in the country, stressing that Washington is a ‘friend to nobody.’
“Americans are not friends of Iraq. Americans are not friends with anyone and are not even loyal to their European allies,” the supreme leader told Rashid during a meeting.
“Even the presence of one American in Iraq is too much,” Khamenei added.
Rashid’s visit to Tehran comes as there have been concerns that Washington is bolstering its presence in Iraq. Last month, during a visit to the country, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed that US troops will “remain in Iraq.”
On 23 April, Iraqi resistance faction Ashab al-Kahf warned that US intelligence has boosted its use of Iraq’s airspace in recent days and has been reinforcing its Victory base near Baghdad airport with equipment and personnel from the US base in Al-Jahra, Kuwait. According to Ashab al-Kahf, this is being done particularly in order to secure Israel.
Before the election of Mohamed Shia al-Sudani’s government in Iraq, attacks against US bases had become frequent in the country.
Explaining why these attacks have ceased, a spokesman for the Iraqi resistance group Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) revealed recently that there are current negotiations between Sudani and the resistance – who have given the former a period of time to manage the affairs of the country and enact a government decision calling for US withdrawal. The KSS spokesman said, however, that if Sudani fails to expel Washington diplomatically, the resistance will be ready to expel it “with force.”
During the meeting, Rashid and the supreme leader discussed “a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest,” an Iraqi presidential statement read.
He also held a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, who had personally invited him to the Islamic Republic.
They discussed a number of topics as well as issues relating to border security and water rights.
Tehran has long called on Baghdad to secure its borders to prevent attacks and infiltration attempts by Kurdish militant groups. Just last month, the two countries signed a border security agreement particularly to prevent such activity.