Iraqi political parties, personalities and tribal leaders critical of Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq staged protests against Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq. Local residents burned Ahmadinejad’s pictures in a number of Iraqi.
On Sunday, hundreds in Fallujah protested Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq. The demonstration which passed through various streets in Fallujah was staged by political parties, organizations and unions in the city.
“The demonstration is a message from the Iraqi people condemning the Iranian regime’s role in backing up the militias that killed hundreds of the Iraqi people,” Sabah al-Alwani, a politician taking part in the demonstration, told an Iraqi radio station.
In the northern city of Kirkuk, Iraqis during a gathering hammered a banner onto the wall reading in Arabic “We denounce Iran’s intervention in Iraqi affairs,” AFP reported on Sunday.
In the past few days, hundreds of demonstrators marched the streets of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of the capital, chanting anti-Ahmadinejad slogans. They burned his picture and many held banners including one that read: “We condemn the visit of terrorist and butcher Ahmadinejad to Iraq,” the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq has prompted widespread protests by Iraqi political personalities and parties critical of the Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq.
“We wish that there would be a commitment from the Iranian president personally to cease all kinds of intervention in Iraq’s security and political affairs,” Abdul-Karim al-Samaraie, a lawmaker with the main Sunni parliamentary bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, told the Arabic language TV station Al-Jazeera.
Mr. Muhammad al-Daini, a member of Iraqi National Assembly from the Iraqi National Dialogue Front called for protests against the upcoming visit by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian regime’s president, the Al-Hurra Arabic-language satellite TV channel reported on Friday.
Mr. Daini said that Iranian regime is responsible for the murder of thousands of Iraqis by the Iranian backed armed militia groups in Iraq. He called for the shutdown of the Iranian regime’s diplomatic offices in Iraq.
Over 130 Iraqi tribal leaders from southern Iraq in a strongly worded joint statement condemned the visit by Ahmadinejad to their country.
“Since five years ago Iraq has turned into the scene of the Iranian regime’s meddling and aggression. Everyday hundreds of Iraqis are victims of the Iranian exported terrorism. In southern Iraq we are witnessing the murder of our children and ransack of our oil and other national wealth by the criminal elements of the Iranian regime,” the statement said.
“The visit [by Ahmadinejad] is against our national interest and is against the will of Iraqi people. It is unacceptable for any Iraqi citizen. The Iraqi government should stop it,” the statement added.
Last November more than 300,000 Iraqis including hundreds of Shiite tribal leaders from Sothern provinces signed a petition condemning Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq and supported the presence of the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in that country.
The petition was viewed as a turning point in Iraq. For the first time there was a public and organized display of opposition toward Iranian regime’s meddling by tribal leaders in the predominantly Shiite south.
A Background to The Outrage:
It is common knowledge that the Iranian regime has astonishingly infiltrated Iraq’s ministries, security agencies and public service institutes. Iran’s rulers want to dominate this part of the world and have turned Iraq into a hunting ground and the frontline of their war with the international community in a bid to curb the struggle for democracy against dictatorship in this country before it reaches Iran.
The Iranian regime’s leaders have repeatedly declared that they have been the first winners of the war in Iraq. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, “God placed the fruit of the occupation of both our neighboring countries (Iraq and Afghanistan) on Iran’s lap.” He concluded, “We must be prepared to run the world.” (January 5, 2006)
After the elections in Iraq, Iran’s Interior Minister announced, “From the ballot boxes in Baghdad and Iraqi provinces, one can hear the slogans of the Muslim people of Iran.” He said, “This major historic phenomenon attests to the realization” of Khomeini’s motto “of conquering Qods (Jerusalem) via Karbala.” (Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, December 22, 2005)
As Iran’s rulers acknowledge, nuclear weapons are the strategic guarantee for their survival. Do they not also underscore designs to separate the oil-rich southern territory in Iraq?
The Iranian regime prevents the establishment of security, stability and democracy in Iraq and poses an immediate threat to our country’s integrity and liberty. It is the main obstacle to our independence and the quick departure of the Multi-National Force.
Presently, the main dispute is between democracy and dictatorship. The first and most important political alignment in Iraq is between democratic and patriotic forces with their various inclinations and thoughts on the one hand and affiliates of the Iranian regime on the other.
During the elections and formation of the new government of Iraq, an Iraqi alternative was formed against the option presented by Iran’s ruling mullahs, thus providing an encouraging prospect for the country.
In this geopolitical situation and in this juncture of history, democracy in Iraq and democracy in Iran are interdependent, guaranteeing each other’s survival.
In April 2005, in the face of the Iranian regime’s threats, 2.8 million Iraqis declared that they found the PMOI as their strategic ally in achieving security, peace and democracy and in encouraging their participation in the elections and political process. It is impossible to overlook the admirable role and impact of the PMOI in this regard. Providing information and building a bulwark against the Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq on the one hand and international exposure of its nuclear programs on the other had a powerful impact.
