Iraqi Scholar Warns about US Plots against Iraq, Entire Middle East
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A prominent Iraqi Shiite scholar said the United States has plotted an ominous scheme for Iraq and the entire Middle East region.
Speaking to Tasnim Sunday, Ayatollah Mohammad Mahdi al-Asefi, who is a senior figure at Najaf Seminary School in Iraq, said Washington and its allies have conspired to do in Iraq what they did in Syria.
He pointed to the world arrogance’s support for extremist groups, saying that these powers have employed all their force to create chaos in Iraq to take power away from the Iraqi people and give it to sectarian groups.
While Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011, Iraq has witnessed a surge in deadly attacks including bombings and shootings in recent months.
Official figures say some 1,013 people were killed in January alone, making it the deadliest month in Iraq since April 2008.
Al-Asefi referred to the role of certain regional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in supplying financial support and weapons to the extremist groups that carry out terrorist activities in Syria and Iraq, but stressed that it is the US that is behind the unrest in Syria and the terrorist bombings in Iraq.
Asked about attempts to discourage Iraqi people from participating in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, the senior cleric said there are many groups that seek to convince the Iraqi people that holding election would be of no avail to them.
On the other side, he noted, all sources of emulation, scholars, and the government try to encourage people to take part in the votes.
Nearly 22 million Iraqis are eligible to cast their ballots in the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 30.
