Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met with Iranian leadership in a show of support for Hamas one day after he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to multiple reports.
Blinken traveled to Baghdad on Sunday to express concerns to al-Sudani about increased attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups on U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, according to the State Department. al-Sudani met with Iranian leadership one day later in Tehran to praise Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and denounce Israel’s counteroffensive, according to a press release from Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office. (RELATED: ‘Payback’: Israel Expands Ground Operations Against Hamas, Official Says)
al-Sudani met with Khamenei in Tehran on Monday to jointly condemn Israel’s counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip, according to a press release from Khamenei’s office. During their meeting, al-Sudani described Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks as a “heroic operation.” “Despite this joy [referring to the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks], we are all deeply devastated by the brutal massacre in Gaza, which is a collective revenge on the people of this small region,” al-Sudani said.
al-Sudani also met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and criticized the U.S. for supporting Israel’s “crimes against humanity and genocide,” according to a press release from Raisi’s office. The two agreed that a broader regional conflict could only be avoided if Israel halts its counteroffensive. “Those who want the scope [of] this crisis not to expand to all over the region, must put pressure on the Zionist regime to stop this aggression and organized killing,” al-Sudani said on Monday.
During his visit with Blinken a day prior, al-Sudani “made very clear” that he condemns attacks by Iranian-backed militias against U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Georgia. There have been 47 attacks on U.S. targets in the Middle East, including Syria and Iraq, since Hamas carried out its attacks against Israel on Oct. 7.
Blinken sends message to Iran from Iraq : ‘Don’t do this’ . pic.twitter.com/awskcu3pKe
— S p r i n t e r X (@SprinterX99880) November 5, 2023
“I had a good, productive, candid meeting with Prime Minister al-Sudani,” Blinken told reporters on Sunday. “It was very important to send a very clear message to anyone who might seek to take advantage of the conflict in Gaza to threaten our personnel here or anywhere else in the region: don’t do it.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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