'Tillerson's remarks on Iraq stem from ignorance'

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has created an uproar by demanding that the “Iranian-backed” Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Iraq “go home.” The remarks quickly drew criticism from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who advised outsiders to stay out of Iraq’s internal affairs. Press TV has asked Sa'ad al-Muttalibi, a member of Iraq's State of Law Coalition, and Frederick Peterson, a US congressional defense policy adviser, to talk about the latest controversy. 

Sa'ad al-Muttalibi said that Tillerson’s comments mostly stem from his ignorance about the geopolitical facts of the region and the nature of regional forces, exclaiming, “I don’t know how we can remove 65 percent of the Iraqi population and tell them to go home?”

During a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, the US official suggested that Iran and all other countries currently helping Iraq in its fight against Daesh needed to leave the Arab country.

That prompted a reaction from the Iraqi premier who said, “No party has the right to interfere in Iraqi matters.”

Muttalibi added, “A law passed by the parliament dictated that all the PMUs are part of the Iraqi armed forces. They are under the control of chief in command. They cannot move without the approval of Iraqi defense minister,” for which reason describing them as militia is “quite unfair.” 

Popular Mobilization Units, known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, are state-sponsored, mainly Shia Muslim, forces who have played a major role in the liberation of Daesh-held areas ever since the terrorists launched their Iraq offensive in 2014.

Muttalibi further defended Iran’s role in Iraq, stressing that the Iraqi government has benefited from Iran’s assistance in recent years to reestablish peace and stability.

Iran has been providing advisory military assistance to the central government in Baghdad and the regional government in Kurdistan, helping them both maintain ground and win back territory lost to the terrorist group in 2014.

“We don’t work on orders by Mr. Tillerson,” he observed. “Iran has helped us over the past few years. It was unprecedented and extremely helpful,” he said, referring to the recent flare-up of tensions in Iraq’s Kurdistan Regions which could have led to a war with Peshmerga forces, had it not been for the Iranian commanders who helped ease the tensions.

Meanwhile, the other guest on the show Frederick Peterson opined that Iraq’s victory over terrorist groups was achieved as a result of joint efforts by various Iraqi groups, adding that no state or group has the right to hijack the victory to its own benefit.

This is the best time, he proposed, for regional and global powers to leave the country alone and “let Iraq be Iraq.”

Asked about the assertions by US officials regarding Iran’s growing influence in the region, he replied that it would be cosmically naive to think that Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States, or other countries that are active in the region have no interests. “Their interests flow beyond the borders and they are competing in the region,” he analyzed.

Peterson suggested that there must be a balance between the interests of all players, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, in order to avoid another war in the Middle East.

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