Khamenei asks Iraq to expel US, urges reinforcement of Iran-backed militants

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Wednesday told the Iraqi prime minister that Tehran-backed militias should be strengthened and the United States must be ejected.

Khamenei said the presence of American forces in Iraq is illegal and against the interests of the Iraqi people and government.

"Evidence and indications point to the Americans' efforts to solidify and expand their presence in Iraq, which must be firmly resisted as an act of occupation," he said in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani in Tehran.

Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq have been launching attacks against American forces and their allies in the region over the past decade.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), a coalition of Tehran-backed militants, said in a statement last year they would continue their attacks until the Americans are “expelled from the country, forced to submit and are defeated."

The IRI is not the only group of Iran-aligned Shia groups in Iraq.

The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), known as the Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic, is another umbrella group of primarily Shia armed factions in Iraq that receive support from Iran. Unlike the IRI, the PMU is a formal part of the Iraqi armed forces and reports directly to the Prime Minister.

In his meeting with Al-Sudani, Khamenei referred to the PMU as one of the key elements of power in Iraq, saying " the Hashd al-Shaabi must be preserved and further strengthened with utmost dedication."

Khamenei's remarks came three days after Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani arrived in Baghdad to meet with leaders of the Shia factions including the Hashd al-Shaabi, Emirati outlet Erem News reported citing an Iranian source.

Ghaani was set to discuss Washington's pressure on the Iraqi government to dissolve the PMU or integrate it into the Iraqi armed forces, the report added.

The Hashd al-Shaabi was established in 2014 following a religious decree to combat Islamic State, which at the time had taken control of four Iraqi governorates and threatened Baghdad.

Supported by the IRGC, the groups wield considerable power over Iraq’s governance, military and energy infrastructure.

Despite their original mandate to combat ISIS, many of the militias have since expanded their activities, frequently targeting US forces and installations in Iraq with rockets and drones and exacerbating tensions between Tehran and Washington.