US Military Presence in Iraq Unlawful: Houthi

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement the US military presence in Iraq, saying it is a violation of international regulations.

Speaking in a televised speech broadcast live from the capital, Sana’a, on Thursday evening, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi censured the deployment of US troops to Iraq as “illegal,” saying, “US (military) presence in Iraq is a gross violation of international law as well as the country’s sovereignty.”

Anti-US sentiment has been running high in Iraq since the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units – better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, and their companions in a US assassination drone airstrike authorized by Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill two days later, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country.

The US responded to the move by threatening crippling sanctions against the Arab country.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Houthi roundly denounced attempts by a number of Arab states to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, saying such countries are complicit in the Tel Aviv regime’s crimes against the Palestinian nation.

“The Arab regimes supporting the Zionist regime are indeed partners in crimes against Palestinians.”

He also censured efforts by certain Arab states to portray a good image of the Tel Aviv regime, emphasizing that such countries are actually turning a blind eye to facts, and telling lies in a bid to justify their normalization of ties with Israel.

“The Zionist regime was created through stealing Palestinian land and killing innocent people. Israel is the worst enemy of the Muslim world, and has been sinister, destructive and illegal ever since its creation,” Houthi pointed out.

The Ansarullah chief then condemned a deal that will lead to full normalization of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

He said that the United States and the Tel Aviv regime only think of exploiting Arab regimes in the Persian Gulf region.

“Persian Gulf Arab regimes do not seek peace for Muslims, but rather try to sow the seeds of discord and division among Muslim nations," he said, according to Press TV.

Under the agreement between Israel and the UAE, the Tel Aviv regime has allegedly agreed to "temporarily" suspend applying its own rule to further areas in the occupied West Bank and the strategic Jordan Valley that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged to annex.

Israeli leaders, however, lined up last week to call UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's bluff that Israel's annexation plans were off the table after the deal.

“There is no change to my plan to extend sovereignty, our sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, in full coordination with the United States,” Netanyahu said in Jerusalem al-Quds, using the biblical name for the occupied West Bank.

A senior Israeli source also said US President Donald Trump’s administration had requested to temporarily suspend the announcement of annexations “to first implement the historic peace agreement with the UAE.”

Israeli and UAE delegations will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements covering sectors, including investment, tourism and direct flights and the opening of reciprocal embassies, according to the accord.