An Iraqi court Sunday sentenced to death a police officer blamed for leading a group that gunned down well-known analyst and government adviser Hisham al-Hashemi three years ago in Baghdad.
Hashemi, who had advised the government on defeating Sunni Muslim Islamic State militants and curbing the influence of the pro-Iran Shi’ite militias, was shot dead outside his Baghdad family home in July 2020 by men on a motorbike.
The assassination came at a time of rising tension between former prime minister Mustafa Kadhimi's government and powerful Iran-backed militias and political parties who opposed him and accused him of siding with the United States.
A Baghdad court issued a death sentence on Sunday against Ahmed Hamdawi under Iraqi counter-terrorism laws, a judicial authority statement said.
Media were not allowed access, but a lawyer who attended the court session said Hamdawi did not say anything in the court in response to the judge's ruling.
He can appeal the sentence, a spokesman for Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad said.
In 2021, Iraqi state television aired a video showing Hamdawi saying he led the group that killed Hashemi.
The government officials then described the killing of Hashemi, who had written about politics, Islamic State and the role of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, as a targeted killing but did not accuse any particular group.
Iran-aligned paramilitary officials denied any role in the killing. Some Islamic State supporters cheered his death, but no group had claimed the murder.
Reporting by Reuters
According to reports by the Islamic Republic’s state media, Raisi and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad signed a “long-term strategic comprehensive cooperation” deal in addition to 14 other agreements in various areas, including trade, oil and energy, engineering, housing, rail and aerial transportation.
Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, Raisi arrived in Damascus on Wednesday. The visit was the first by an Iranian president since the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011.
On the second day of his visit, Raisi held a meeting with representatives of militia groups fighting against Israel from Syria. These groups, which enjoy huge financial and military support from Tehran, are often called the “resistance axis” in the jargon of the Islamic Republic.
Most of these groups have representative offices in Syria.
During the meeting with the leaders and commanders of the militant groups, Raisi reiterated Tehran’s claim about the future of the region, saying that Israel’s elimination may happen very soon as signs of its decline are visible, and described “resistance” as the only way to counter “the occupying regime.”
“The Zionist regime also planned to divide Syria with the support of the United States and Western countries, as well as the fielding of terrorist groups created by the United States, but they did not succeed,” he said.
Raisi stressed the need for unity among these forces in order to expedite “the collapse of Israel, the liberation of the holy al-Quds, and the Palestinians’ sovereignty over their fate.” “Today, the initiative is in the hands of Palestinian fighters on the battlefield, not at negotiating tables. We believe that the demise of the Zionist regime is imminent as the signs of its decline are visible,” he said.
“The only solution for Palestine is state sovereignty based on the will of the Palestinians. If the Westerners seek democracy, they should acknowledge the Palestinian people’s vote and remain committed to it,” Raisi said.
On Wednesday, Raisi addressed a host of Syrian regime loyalists and officials at a Shia shrine, saying, “The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to support the oppressed and hence, it stands beside the oppressed Palestinian nation as well as the resistance in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere in the world."
Raisi had a large retinue during his visit to Syria asa majority of his cabinet was accompanying him.
Mehrdad Bazrpash, the Iranian road minister and head of the Iran-Syria Joint Economic Commission described the signed documents as “nearly unprecedented both in terms of number and importance of issues.”“A major part of these documents seeks to facilitate trade between the two countries,” he told IRIB after the signing ceremony, noting that the agreements will improve the quality and volume of bilateral trade.
Tehran and Damascus apparently also discussed the establishment of a joint bank and joint insurance company that will ease trade, said the official.
According to one of the agreements, 50,000 Iranians will be able to make pilgrimage to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, in Damascus on a yearly basis, using three to five direct flights every week, Bazrpash said. He added that the operation to dispatch pilgrims will start in the next two months.
Israel has vowed to prevent Iran's entrenchment in Syria. Israeli strikes in recent weeks have seen key Iranian military figures killed from the Revolutionary Guards and the Quds Force. Israel has been regularly targeting Iranian weapons depots and shipments in Syria.
“At this point, Israel has reached a level of humiliation that it has surrounded itself with barbed wire and radars to prevent infiltration,” Qaani told a gathering of young clerics.
The commander who replaced Qassem Soleimani after his killing by the order of former US President Donald Trump in January 2020, is in charge of Tehran’s militant proxies in the region, including Palestinian groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Although Qaani is not a strong operator like his predecessor who organized a large network of proxy forces, Iran succeeded in inflaming tensions between Israel and Palestinian militant groups this year, which led to military clashes in April.
Qaani’s remarks came as Islamic Republic’s president Ebrahim Raisi was in Damascus for a two-day visit, for the first time by an Iranian head of state since civil war broke out in 2011.
Iran has a large military presence in Syria, where Israel says Tehran is building up forces to threaten its northern border and use the country as a supply route to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Qaani boasted that because of Tehran’s efforts to instill “the spirit of resistance,” some days up to 30 attacks take place against Israel “that their media try to hide.”
He added that the Islamic Republic is so strong that “Today, America, Israel, NATO and others have mobilized” to destroy it.
Qaani’s remarks came as Iran seized a second oil tanker in the Persian Gulf in a span of days, despite the United States deploying a guided-missile submarine in the region in April.
The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said Wednesday that the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) while passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
The incident happened in international waters, as swarms of Iranian armed speed boats surrounded the vessel. It is not clear why the US Navy, which has a strong presence in the region, and was apparently aware of the unfolding seizure, did not intervene.
Asked by a reporter Wednesday why the United States does not respond to Iran’s actions, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, “When it comes to holding the – the malign Iranian regime accountable, we’ll continue to take steps to do whatever we can to protect the security of our allies and partners in the region, protect the security of the United States and its service members, and we continue to have a number of tools at our disposal.”
But clearly Tehran has decided to make oil shipping through the strategic Persian Gulf waters unsafe, potentially hurting vital oil traffic.
Saudi Arabia, which agreed to restore relations with the Islamic Republic in March after a seven-year hiatus, has not publicly reacted to Tehran’s actions in the Persian Gulf endangering oil shipments by its allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
It was expected that the Iranian regime would act more cautiously after emerging from its regional isolation following the agreement with Riyadh.
However, the calculus in Tehran might be different. The restoration of ties was brokered by China, which was seen as a blow to US influence in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic sees its alliance with China as a game changer.
“The shift in power from West to East has begun,” Qanaani said in his speech, referring to China becoming a diplomatic and military power in addition to its economic clout.
“In this shift the Islamic Republic should find its rightful place and with God’s help it will find it.”