Iraqi Shi'ite Militia Official Ali Al-Assadi Threatens U.S. Forces If Iran Is Attacked, Adds: Iraqi FM Said The Americans Are Friends, But He Was Speaking As A Kurd; The Public Sees Them As Enemies; We Speak With Missiles, Not Words

Iraqi politician Sheikh Ali Al-Assadi, head of the Al-Nujaba political council said in interview with Al-Sumaria TV (Iraq), which aired on August 13, 2024 that any attack against Iran or the "resistance axis" will lead to renewed military operations against U.S. forces in the region. He emphasized that America is the enemy and that any cabinet member who says otherwise is expressing his personal opinion, not that of the Iraqi people. Al-Assadi continued to say that the resistance groups will respond to American messages with missiles, because the resistance speaks through missiles, not words.

Al-Assadi: "Any attack against the [resistance] axis will lead to the renewal of the operations [against the U.S. forces]. I am talking about an attack on the entire axis, including the Islamic Republic [of Iran]. If Iraqi soil is used to attack the neighboring countries, the Resistance Coordination Committee will have its say on how to react."

Interviewer: "Okay. Who is the enemy?"

Al-Assadi: "The enemy is America."

Interviewer: "America is the enemy?"

Al-Assadi: "America, Israel... This is very clear."

Interviewer: "What you are saying is different then what the government is saying. Yesterday, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said on TV that the Americans are friends."

Al-Assadi: "From 2003 and to this day, the problem of the Iraqi government has been that its members have several opinions and approaches, and each one of them presents his personal opinions. The Foreign Minister is speaking as a Kurd, but all his positions contradict those of the Iraqi public. He says that the Americans are friends, while the Iraqi public sees them as enemies. The Americans kill Iraqis, allow the Israeli planes to violate Iraqi airspace, and kill members of the Iraqi security forces. He is expressing his political position."

Interviewer: "What was the last message you received from the Americans?"

Al-Assadi: "They want to attack without being attacked."

Interviewer: "The response of the resistance factions to this was to fire missiles. They did not respond with words."

Al-Assadi: "The resistance speaks only through missiles. This is the logic of the resistance."