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Iran’s most powerful ally in Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah, announced on January 30 the suspension of its operations against United States forces in the Middle East, just two days after a drone attack killed American troops.
“We are announcing the suspension of military and security operations against the [U.S.] occupation forces – in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government,” the group said in a statement.
“We will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways, and we recommend to the brave Mujahideen of the Free Hezbollah Brigades to [carry out] passive defense (temporarily) if any hostile American action occurs towards them.”
The group also said that it had carried out attacks against U.S. forces at its “own will, and without any interference from others.”
“On the contrary, our brothers in the axis – especially in the Islamic Republic [of Iran] – do not know how we work jihad, and they often object to the pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria,” the group noted.
Kataib Hezbollah is said to be a key faction of the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), who claimed responsibility for the majority of some 165 attacks that have targeted U.S. forces in the country and neighboring Syria since October 17- ten days after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
The group’s surprise move came just two days after a suicide drone struck a U.S. base known as Tower 22 on the Syrian-Jordanian border, killing three American troops and wounding some 40 others.
Commenting on Kataib Hezbollah statement, Defense Department spokesperson Brigade General Patrick Ryder said that “actions speak louder than words.”
“We have called on the Iranian proxy groups to stop their attacks. They have not, and so we will respond in a time and manner of our choosing. When I say actions speak louder than words, there have been three attacks to my knowledge since the 28th of January, and I’ll just leave it there,” he told reporters.
In addition to launching attacks against U.S. forces, the IRI has targeted Israel more than once, launching suicide drones and even cruise missiles at military sites and infrastructure. Kataib Hezbollah didn’t say that attacks on Israel will be suspended.
The U.S. and Iraq are expected to soon begin talks on the future of the American military presence in the country, amid public calls from the Iraqi government for the U.S. to withdraw.
Kataib Hezbollah’s decision may be meant to facilitate the talks with the U.S. and deny Washington any excuse to launch attacks on Iraq.
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