Iran's incursion in Iraq unites Iraqis

By Ali al-Juboori in Anbar
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-12-23

[Ali al-Juboori] Demonstrators in Fallujah hold a banner calling on Iranian President Ahmedinejad to stop interfering in Iraqi affairs.

The Iraqi Council of Sheikhs and Dignitaries of Anbar Province held an emergency meeting Monday (December 21st) to discuss the Iranian seizure of Iraqi territory.

Last Friday, the Iranian army occupied an oil well in the Iraqi Fauqa oil field located in the southern province of Maysan. Although they later withdrew, they remained on Iraqi territory, according to Iraqi officials.

"If the government stays silent, Iraqis will never stay silent," Sheikh Meshhen al-Shamari said. "The weapons and explosives that enter the country and the support given to terrorists come from Iran. We have to unify our position on this issue."

"Iran's interference in Iraq has proven to the world that Iraqis can agree on issues that concern their fate," he said. "Sectarian factors will disappear in these situations. We can see how Iraqi Shia tribes stand with other Sunni tribes in one front in order to stop the spread of Iran's influence in Iraq."

After the conference, peaceful demonstrations were organized in a number of Iraqi cities including Fallujah, Ramadi, Abu Ghraib and al-Haswa. Participants demanded, according to one banner carried by a number of demonstrators, that Iran "stop its interference in Iraqi's affairs and put an end to its support of the special units and armed groups in Iraq."

Iran's reported seizure of an Iraqi oil well is a "misunderstanding," said Ramin Mihman-Parast, spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry. The two countries reached an "understanding" on the issue, Mihman-Parast told Reuters. A joint committee should look into officially demarcating the border, he said.

"The Iranian action was a violation of our sovereignty and an encroachment on Iraq’s national wealth, but we must try to defuse any tensions," Ammar Tohme of the Virtue Party and a member of the parliamentary security and defence committee told the newspaper The National. "There are mechanisms for dealing with this kind of situation; we use diplomatic channels and if there had been no response from Iran we would have raised the issue internationally [at the United Nations]."

Others, however, want more concrete action.

In Ramadi, Sheikh Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Zawbaie, general coordinator of the Iraqi Councils of Tribal Chiefs and Sheikhs, said in an interview with Al Shorfa that "the demonstrations will continue until the government takes serious steps against Iran."

"Tehran must stop this interference because they perpetuate hatred and animosity between the Iranian and Iraqi peoples, which we don't want," he said. "Iran has become an obstacle impeding of Iraq's progress and progress in the entire region."

Al-Zawbaie said that peaceful demonstrations will carry over to Baghdad and a number of southern cities in the next few days.

In Fallujah, hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets to protest. They demanded that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stop harming Iraqis and attempting to undermine their democratic experience, according to a number of demonstrators.

"The government must do something about Iranian interference," said demonstrator Saadoun Mijbel, 43. "We fear that Iran will occupy other regions. It must be deterred. "

The demonstrations occurred one day after Iraqi police in the city of Karma, east of Fallujah, announced the discovery of newly-made Iranian weapons and explosives.

Capt. Mahmoud al-Jumaili of the rapid reaction forces in Anbar said that "US forces managed this month to locate four weapons caches in the cities of al-Karma, al-Haswa and Khan Dhari, and three of these caches contained Iranian-made weapons."

Al-Jumaili added that Iraqi police arrested three gunmen with newly-made Iranian weapons in their possession. The individuals were planning terrorist operations before the election. "The arrested individuals confessed that they received support from Iran. A foreign fighter who said he entered Iraq from Iran last September was also arrested."

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