PMF supporters rally in Baghdad over Israeli strikes on Iran, use of Iraqi airspace

BAGHDAD — Supporters of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, along with tribal leaders and clerics, staged a protest Friday evening in Baghdad’s Jadriya district, denouncing Israeli airstrikes on Iran and what they described as the use of Iraqi airspace to carry out the attacks.

Waving Iranian flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans, demonstrators called on the Iraqi government to take a stronger stance against what they termed violations of national sovereignty and urged it to reject any use of Iraqi territory in military operations that could destabilize the region.

“The presence of the Zionist entity in the region is nothing but a tool for domination and aggression against the Islamic and Arab nations,” said Adnan Shahmani, head of the Rassali Movement. “Some regimes have submitted to this entity, but the real response lies in a united Islamic-Arab position and a resistant popular will.”

Another demonstrator, Ahmed Al-Tamimi, said, “Iraqis and PMF supporters are out today to send a clear message to the world and the government: we reject using Iraqi land to target the Islamic Republic. Iran stood with us against ISIS 11 years ago—it’s time we return the favor.”

The PMF, a coalition of mostly Shia militias, was formed on June 13, 2014, following a fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani calling for armed resistance against the Islamic State group. Though formally incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces in 2016, many PMF factions continue to operate with considerable autonomy.

“We protest today against the brutal assault on Iran and demand that the Iraqi government file an official complaint against the Zionist entity,” said Sattar Al-Mayyahi, another protester at the rally.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry announced Friday that it had submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council, condemning what it described as Israeli violations of Iraqi airspace and calling on the Council “to take legal and moral action” to prevent further incidents. “These practices represent a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” the ministry said in a statement.