Netanyahu is set to meet Trump on Wednesday in preparation for a possible war with Iran
News Desk - The Cradle
“We announce our readiness to volunteer to support our security forces, the Popular Mobilization Forces [PMU], and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we categorically reject American intervention in the Islamic Republic,” a statement from the volunteers read.
Ammar al-Tamimi, a leader in the Badr Organization, said the volunteers were not associated with any specific armed faction.
“Rather, we are volunteers ready to serve as a reserve force for the security forces,” Tamimi stated.
“We came forward to defend our families and our people after sensing danger. We volunteered for the sake of God Almighty. We do not need money,” one volunteer stated.
Another volunteer said, “Our defense is for our homeland and our province. We offer our blood as a sacrifice for the nation.”
The statement comes during the Washington–Tehran talks and a major US military build-up in the region.
On 6 February, US and Iranian officials met in Oman for the first negotiations between the two sides since the US and Israel launched a 12-day war on the Islamic Republic in June.
Israeli and US warplanes targeted Iran's nuclear facilities and air defense systems. Israel also assassinated several top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran responded by launching barrages of ballistic missiles and drones that successfully hit targets across Israel, including Tel Aviv, and struck Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar – the largest US base in the Persian Gulf.
Following the Friday talks, US officials announced new sanctions aimed at blocking Iranian oil exports as part of US President Donald Trump's maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic.
The sanctions include the targeting of 14 vessels transporting oil under the Turkish, Indian, and Emirati flags. Washington also announced sanctions on 15 entities and two Iranian individuals.
Last month, US officials threatened to cut off Iraq's oil revenues, held in an account in the New York Federal Reserve, if Shia groups close to Iran join the next Iraqi government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Trump in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the negotiations and plans for a possible attack on Iran.
“The prime minister believes that all negotiations must include limiting the ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu's office said in a brief statement.
The US has sent its aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Arabian Sea, along with a dozen F-15 fighter jets, an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone, and several A-10C Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan – which all recently arrived in West Asia.
A guided-missile destroyer ship, the USS Delbert D Black, was spotted sailing through the Suez Canal in Egypt from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, affirmed on Sunday that Tehran will not give up on enriching Uranium for its civilian nuclear program or bow to military pressure from Washington.
“Their military deployment in the region does not scare us,” Araghchi stated.
The Islamic Republic has signaled a willingness to potentially limit enrichment in previous negotiations, as it agreed to in the 2015 deal, which Trump scrapped during his first term. Yet, it refuses to abandon support for its allies and says its missile program – a major part of the country’s defense – is non-negotiable.
Both Washington and Tehran have maintained influence in Iraq since the US invasion that toppled the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Amid US support for ISIS in 2014, Iran helped establish the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), comprised of Shia volunteers wishing to fight the terror group and prevent the fall of Baghdad.
The PMU and other Shia armed groups that enjoy Iranian backing remain influential.
Shia armed groups, Kataeb Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, have also set up recruiting stations across the country, including in Baghdad, to enlist volunteers to fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment