Hoqouq Party leader denounces crackdown on attackers

BAGHDAD — Hussein Muanis, leader of the Hoqouq Bloc in the Iraqi Parliament, criticized the armed crackdown on individuals who attacked U.S. and foreign businesses in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities recently, describing it as a suppression of freedoms.

At least ten U.S. and foreign businesses were attacked in Iraq over the past week, leading many to question the government’s ability to protect foreign businesses amid its efforts to attract foreign investment. Government security forces announced the arrest of several attackers in the last few days, showing their resolve in countering threats against foreign businesses.

“We are witnessing government actions these days that contradict the country’s anti-Zionist and anti-American stance,” Muanis stated. “This involves the deployment of heavily armed forces in a manner reminiscent of war zones, aimed at strangling freedoms and restricting democratic space for expressing opinions.” Munis added that the targeting of foreign brands was in support of the Palestinian cause.

The parliamentarian, affiliated with the pro-Iran Kata’ib Hezbollah armed faction, elaborated in a post on X that the crackdown on the “young protesters” who supported Palestine and committed “no greater crime than breaking shop windows” under Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law necessitated that the government “prove its sincerity in supporting the Palestinian cause.” He called for halting major contracts and agreements with companies whose profits benefit Israel.