{"id":31100,"date":"2019-05-20T13:58:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T13:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/20\/iraqi-shiite-figures-warn-us-iran-war-could-burn-iraq\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:55:34","slug":"iraqi-shiite-figures-warn-us-iran-war-could-burn-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/20\/iraqi-shiite-figures-warn-us-iran-war-could-burn-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi Shiite figures warn US-Iran war could \u2018burn\u2019 Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leading Iraqi Shiite figures warned Monday against attempts to pull their country into a war between the U.S. and Iran, saying it would turn Iraq into a battlefield yet again, just as it is on the path to recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warning came hours after a rocket slammed into Baghdad\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/05\/19\/rocket-attack-hits-near-us-embassy-in-baghdads-green-zone\/\" target=_blank> heavily fortified Green Zone<\/a>, landing less than a mile from the sprawling U.S. Embassy. No injuries were reported and no group immediately claimed the Sunday night attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after, President Donald Trump tweeted a warning to Iran not to threaten the United States or it will face its \u201cofficial end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, the U.S. ordered the evacuation of nonessential diplomatic staff from Iraq amid unspecified threats from Iran and rising tensions across the region. The White House has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/05\/19\/us-conducts-navy-exercises-in-arabian-sea\/\" target=_blank>sent warships<\/a> and bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter the alleged Iranian threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iraqi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul tweeted Monday that the army command in Baghdad is working \u201cday and night\u201d to guarantee the security of citizens, foreign missions and international and local companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, two influential Shiite clerics and a leading politician \u2014 all with close ties to Iran \u2014 warned that Iraq could once again get caught in the middle. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/05\/19\/once-again-iraq-caught-up-in-tensions-between-us-and-iran\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19137535709188.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Once again, Iraq caught up in tensions between US and Iran<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Iraqi officials in Baghdad last week as tensions mounted between America and Iran, he delivered a nuanced message: If you\u2019re not going to stand with us, stand aside.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said any political party that would drag Iraq in a U.S.-Iran war \u201cwould be the enemy of the Iraqi people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis war would mark the end of Iraq,\u201d the black-turbaned al-Sadr warned. \u201cWe need peace and reconstruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The influential cleric\u2019s statements were echoed by the Shiite militias, which appeared to distance themselves from Sunday\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qais al-Khazali, the leader the Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous group, tweeted that he is opposed to operations that \u201cgive pretexts for war\u201d and added that they would only \u201charm Iraq\u2019s political, economic and security conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah said the rocket attack was \u201cunjustified\u201d and suggested a third party was trying to provoke a war, citing Israel or Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/18\/as-tensions-rise-could-iran-mistake-airliners-for-warplanes\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Iran-3.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">As tensions rise, could Iran mistake airliners for warplanes?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Iraqi officials said ExxonMobil Corp. began evacuating staff from Basra, and Bahrain ordered its citizens out of Iraq and Iran over &quot;the recent escalations and threats.&quot;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the Shiite-majority Iraq to be a theater for proxy wars is not new. It lies on the fault line between Shiite Iran and the mostly Sunni Arab world, led by powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and has long been the setting where Saudi-Iran rivalry for regional supremacy played out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After America\u2019s 2003 invasion of Iraq to oust dictator Saddam Hussein, American troops and Iranian-backed militiamen fought pitched battles around the country, and scores of U.S. troops were killed or wounded by sophisticated Iranian-made weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The office of Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of a coalition of Shiite paramilitary forces backed by both Baghdad and Tehran, released a statement calling on Iraqis to work together \u201cto keep Iraq and the region away from war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf war breaks out &#8230; it will burn everyone,\u201d al-Amiri warned.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday, two influential Shiite clerics and a leading politician \u2014 all with close ties to Iran \u2014 warned that Iraq could once again get caught in the middle of any conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":61328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1355],"class_list":["post-31100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6MMOGHQHX5HR3NYOCKOAX4NL6M","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2019\/05\/20\/iraqi-shiite-figures-warn-us-iran-war-could-burn-iraq\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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