US to pay “heavy price” for attacks on PMU: Ex-envoy

The former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danaeifar described the US fighter jets’ raids last night against the positions of Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hash al-Shaabi as an attempt by the United States to escape from the fact that the PMU has become a reality in Iraq, and believed that this attempt will accelerate the US expulsion from Iraq and the region.

On the possible PMU reaction to the US airstrikes, the former Iran envoy to Iraq pointed to two different subjects and said that, “There is legitimate resistance against the occupation inside Iraq on the one hand, and there is a military structure namely PMU. The United States wrong calculation is that it likens the legitimate resistance against the occupation and the PMU as one single thing. Accordingly, it attacks the PMU positions from time to time.”

He further noted that “These attacks will come at a heavy price to the United States.”

In response to the question whether the recent US attacks in Iraq are related to developments in Afghanistan? Daneifar answered that “I do not think the developments in these two countries are structurally and organizationally related.” He further said “I must say that the US attacks on the PMU positions on the Iraqi-Syrian border is a low-value tactical measure taken to response to some issues.”

The former Iranian diplomat said that the cases of Afghanistan and Iraq are separate, adding that “The two cases have something in common in that the United States acts suspiciously [in both cases.] The Americans collaborated with the Taliban in Afghanistan.”

“Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was bragging about reaching an agreement with the Taliban. The Americans rebuilt the group during meetings with the Taliban in the Qatari capital. The concern is that the Americans in Iraq will adopt the same approach, namely rebuilding ISIL. From this perspective, there is a kind of connection between the developments in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, I believe that this method and trick is no longer as effective as before.”