Muqtada Al-Sadr warns of Israeli ‘expansion’ to Iraq’s borders

NAJAF — Iraqi influential Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr warned Wednesday that Israel’s “expansion” could reach Iraq’s borders, citing what he described as “presence of the Zionist enemy in the region” and accusing the United States of providing “cover” for it.

“The presence of the Zionist enemy in the region will not result in anything praiseworthy,” Al-Sadr said in a statement. He condemned what he called an international failure to act, saying, “Many have chosen to remain silent and merely watch as Gaza’s martyrs, its children, and its women fall by the rockets of Zionist-American terrorism—or perish from hunger and thirst due to an international siege with no humanitarian or legal deterrent.”

​On Tuesday, Israeli forces launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. Palestinian health authorities reported that these strikes resulted in over 400 deaths, including women and children.

Full statement from Muqtada Al-Sadr:

In His Name, the Most High

Allah Almighty said: “Those who break the covenant of Allah after contracting it and sever that which Allah has ordered to be joined and spread corruption on earth—it is they who are the losers.”

We knew and warned about what the situation in Gaza—and beyond—would lead to…

The presence of the Zionist enemy in the region will not result in anything praiseworthy.

And now, the enemy resumes bombing civilians and children under a blatant American terrorist cover.

Many have chosen to remain silent and merely watch as Gaza’s martyrs, its children, and its women fall by the rockets of Zionist-American terrorism—or perish from hunger and thirst due to an international siege with no humanitarian or legal deterrent.

All of this will lead to the sale of Palestine once again, allowing Zionism to expand across Islamic and Arab lands with ease and with support from various sides. This will ultimately bring Israel to the Iraqi borders, which is the enemy’s primary goal… Regret will be of no use then.

O Allah, I have conveyed. O Allah, bear witness.