Iraq's deputy parliament speaker is vowing "decisive decisions" to end the United States' presence in the country after the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Following President Trump's ordering of a drone strike that killed Soleimani in Baghdad in a major escalation of tensions with Tehran, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi called the strike an "aggression against Iraq," and an emergency session of Parliament has been called for Saturday, The Associated Press reports.
Deputy Speaker Hassan al-Kaabi in a statement vowed that during this session, "decisive decisions" will be made that will "put an end to U.S. presence inside Iraq," per The Guardian.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who says the strike was ordered due to a threat of an "imminent attack" in the region, tweeted Friday that he spoke with Iraqi Speaker of Parliament Mohamed al-Halbousi and "we agreed Iraq must uphold its responsibility to keep U.S. personnel safe and prevent further attacks" and that "building a sovereign and strong Iraq remains a shared priority." Al-Halbousi in a statement called the strike a "flagrant breach of sovereignty and violation of international agreements."
The AP notes that Iraq "ordering out American forces would heavily damage Washington's influence and make the U.S. troop presence in neighboring Syria more tenuous," but "Iraq's leadership is likely to be divided over such a step."
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