Huge Rally Held in Najaf against US Military Presence

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Thousands of people in Najaf, Iraq, held a rally on Friday to voice protest at the presence of US military forces in the country.

According to Aletejah TV, the demonstration was held on the 40^th day after martyrdom of Iranian IRGC Quds Force commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani and deputy commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against the US and the Zionist regime of Israel and hailed the role of the clergy in foiling the plots hatched by the global arrogance in the region.

They also honored the memory of the martyrs and visited the grave of Martyr Muhandis in Najaf’s Wadi-us-Salaam Cemetery.

General Soleimani, al-Muhandis, and a number of their entourage were killed in a strike by American drones near Baghdad International Airport in the early hours of January 3.

The White House and the Pentagon claimed responsibility for the assassination of General Soleimani in Iraq, saying the attack was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump.

On January 5, the Iraqi parliament voted to expel US forces from the country in response to the assassinations.

On January 9, then prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi called on the United States to dispatch a delegation to Baghdad tasked with formulating a mechanism for the move.

According to a statement released by the Iraqi premier’s office, Abdul-Mahdi “requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the mechanisms to implement the parliament’s decision for the secure withdrawal of (foreign) forces from Iraq” in a phone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.