Over the past month, there have been various media reports stating that Israel has broadened the scope of its aerial attacks against Iranian targets in Iraq, attacking Iranian weapons storehouses and missiles on army bases northeast of Baghdad.
Following the first airstrike, on July 19, 2019 – which according to Arab media reports targeted a missile storehouse on an Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi (Popular Mobilization Units, PMU) base in the Amerli area north of Baghdad[1] – Iraqi journalist Khudayr Taher, who lives in the U.S., published an article in the Iraqi daily Sot Al-Iraq. Under the headline "The Courageous Israeli Army Bombed the Nest of Iran's Collaborators in Iraq," he praised the Israeli attack on "the Iranian forces of evil" and the "terrorist devils" among the collaborators with Iran, adding that Iran aspires to take over and destroy the Arab lands while Israel is revealed as a friend and potential ally of the Arabs.
Khudayr Taher (Source: Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012270853347)
The following are translated excerpts from Taher's article:
"...The courageous and heroic Israeli army is now playing a noble role in service of security, peace, and stability in the region, by means of war against the Iranian forces of evil that aspire to attain hegemony in the region, sow sectarian conflict, sow terrorism, and plunder the resources of the [Arab] lands.
"Note how Israel withdrew from Egyptian, Jordanian, and Lebanese lands and proposed peace and withdrawal to the Syrians and Palestinians. This is while Iran spreads and openly interferes in the affairs of Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and Iraq and conducts [additional] secret interventions in various countries around the world. So which is the peace-seeking country, Iran or Israel?
"The heroic Israeli Air Force destroyed the nests of Iran's agents at Amerli base in Iraq and killed the Iranian agents, the evil terrorist devils, who plot to carry out terror attacks against the neighboring countries. This was an amazing message, conveying that all Iran's activity in the region is exposed and is being monitored, and is not immune to Israeli attack and punishment.
"The move [against Iran and its supporters] began on two fronts: The first is the sanctions on corrupt actors, and on the civilian collaborators with Iran, by means of the American Treasury lists – and the names of the members of the mafia of corruption and crime will thus be exposed, preparing the way for pursing and arresting them.[2] The second is the joint U.S.-Israel military attacks and hunting for and harshly punishing the remaining Iranian agents.
"Perhaps Israel doesn't understand the extent of the love which large sectors of the Iraqi people have for it because of its respectable and valiant actions in the war against [the spread of] the Iranian influence in the region. A pragmatic perspective has led many among the Iraqis and the Arabs to view Israel as an awe-inspiring friend and ally, in the framework of the axis of the war against the Iranian evil."[3]
[1] See also report in Al-Jarida (Kuwait): Al-Hasd Al-Sha'bi is an umbrella organization of Iraqi militias supported by Iran and comprises part of the Iraqi armed forces, July 21, 2019.
[2] The writer appears to be referring to this month's U.S. Department of Treasury's sanctions against "persons associated with serious human rights abuse and corrupt actors in Iraq." Home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm735, July 18, 2019.
[3] Sotaliraq.com, July 22, 2019.
