Hawzah News Agency - (Mashhad - Iran) - In 2018, on the sidelines of the seventh Islamic Film Market in Astan Quds Razavi Exhibitions Hall, Astan News arranged an interview with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Popular Mobilization Unites (PMU), which is being re-published on the occasion of his martyrdom.
The interview was dubbed originally as “Resistance, the Secret of Iraqi People’s Victory against ISIS.”
Noting that disintegration of Iraq is Saudis’ most important objective for presence in the Kurdish region, Abu Mahdi called it the biggest threat for that country which requires popular forces to keep coherence and solidarity.
He pointed out that the PMU, better known by the Arabic name Ḥashd al-Sha’abi, is working hard to preserve Iraq’s national unity and sovereignty, although it is under constant attack.”
“The Saudis, along with the countries that support the Iraqi Ba’ath Party, are seeking to work in Iraqi political arena and the Americans are protesting against the Ḥashd al-Sha’abi’s access to the Baghdad-Damascus route, yet we will never allow foreign troops to establish presence in these areas,” he said.
Abu Mahdi enunciated that Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) is one of the most influential forces against ISIS, which is not specific to any particular tribe and encapsulates all parties.
“Confrontation with US forces in Iraq depends on government action. We do not regard the presence of US forces in Iraq a source of security for the country, yet we respect the decisions of the government, the parties, and key figures. Meanwhile, we will not allow the Iraqi sovereignty and territory to fall into the hands of the Americans,” he stated.
Abu Mehdi added that Americans are working hard to reduce the number of Ḥashd al-Sha’abi forces and they even call PMU commanders terrorists.
“The presence of US helicopters in areas dominated by ISIS indicates that Americans do not seek to destroy ISIS, but rather to manage and develop the group in the country,” he commented.
Furthermore, he called the release of Mosul as the result of Ayatollah Sistani’s fatwa, the guidance of Iran’s Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the cooperation of television and social networks in encouraging and strengthening Ḥashd al-Sha’abi, which he appreciated all.
Also Seyyed Mazar al-Bakaa, the director of the al-Ghadir network reiterated that the media played an important role in revealing the nature of the conspirators in Iraq using Islamic culture.
“With the current situation in Iraq and the security situation in the country today, the media can freely challenge the enemies in the region,” he remarked.