The Hezbollah in Iraq announces the suspension of all military operations against US forces
The Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the suspension of all its military operations against US forces in the region, in a decision aimed at not embarrassing the Iraqi government.
Abu Hussein al Hamidawi, the group’s Secretary-General, said in a statement on Telegram, “As we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces – in order to embarrass the Iraqi government – we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways”.
The decision comes after the killing of three US soldiers in a drone attack near the Jordanian-Syrian border on Sunday, an attack that the Pentagon said in a non-final assessment bore the hallmarks of the Iraqi Hezbollah.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the group’s statement, saying only that “actions speak louder than words”.
The United States vowed to respond to the attacks.
Pro-Iranian groups have launched attacks from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria on Israeli and American targets since the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel on October 7.
The Iraqi Hezbollah is the strongest armed faction in the so-called the Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq, which includes armed Shiite groups that have claimed responsibility for more than 150 attacks on US forces since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7.
Washington has responded with deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq in a cycle of growing violence that Iraqi officials warn threatens to undermine progress made toward stabilizing the country after decades of conflict.
This came as Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder responded to a statement by the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, which announced the suspension of its military operations against US forces.
He added, “We clearly called on Iran’s agents in the region to stop their attacks, but they didn’t stop… We’ll now respond in a time and manner of our choosing… We’ll look at their actions, not their statements, and suffice it to say that 3 other attacks occurred during the last two days, as far as I know”.
Ryder confirmed that “the United States is continuing its investigations into the drone attack on the US military base near the Syrian-Jordanian border, which led to the death of 3 US soldiers.
For his part, Farhad Alaeddin, advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that the decision of the Hezbollah Brigades came after days of tireless efforts by the Iraqi Prime Minister to prevent any new escalation after the Jordan attack.
Aladdin added in an interview, “Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al Sudani has made strenuous efforts over the past few days and is communicating with all concerned parties inside and outside Iraq”.
He continued, “All parties must support the Prime Minister’s efforts to prevent any possible escalation”.
Founded following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraqi Hezbollah is one of the Iraqi armed factions closely linked to Iran.
Tehran denies participating in the attacks launched by Iraqi groups, and says that all members of the Iranian-backed axis of resistance plan and carry out their operations themselves.
Western and Iraqi officials say that the Iraqi government is supported by armed parties and factions with ties to Iran, although it has no direct link to the extremist groups targeting US forces.
Baghdad condemned the attacks and also said that regional escalation would continue as long as the war in Gaza continued.
On Sunday, US Central Command announced in a statement that 3 US soldiers were killed in a drone attack that struck a base in northeastern Jordan near the border with Syria.
