In an interview with a Pentagon official on the eve of the Baghdad-Washington talks on how to withdraw US troops from Iraq, Al-Arabiya quoted Saudi Arabia as saying that Iran supports militant groups attacking US interests.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya network today (Thursday) quoted a Pentagon official as saying that the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) intends to confront Iran and its affiliated militant groups in the region.
The unnamed US official told Al-Arabiya: We are witnessing continued attacks on American forces, as well as a clear pattern of training and financial support and weapons from militant groups that are attacking our interests.
The network referred to him as a senior official in the US Department of Defense and added: “When the Americans are attacked, Washington first defends the soldiers in self-defense, and this is a natural right.”
He added: The issue of defending US forces and diplomatic headquarters is also part of the US-Iraq strategic dialogue.
Al-Arabiya also published an interview with Pentagon spokesman John Kirby last week, in which John Kirby said Iran should suspend support for its ally in Iraq.
He said the United States was concerned about attacks on its interests in Iraq.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahaf said in a statement that the fourth round of strategic talks between the United States and Iraq on how to withdraw Washington troops from the country would begin on July 23, 2021 .
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on July 26 (August 4, 1400) is the guest of US President Joe Biden at the White House to begin the talks.
The Wall Street Journal reports that senior US and Iraqi officials plan to issue a statement urging US troops to leave Iraq by the end of this year.
“We do not need additional fighters (US forces) because we have enough troops,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fawad Hussein told the Wall Street Journal.
Some countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, which intend to expand its influence in Iraq through the presence of American and foreign forces, do not like American forces that have entered the country under the pretext of fighting terrorism and ISIS, and their policies to support Terrorist groups and disturbing the peace in the region are leaving Iraq.
By supporting terrorist groups, these countries intend to destroy the security and tranquility of Iraq in order to justify the stabilization of foreign forces in the country.