Spokesperson for Iraq’s Nujaba Movement to Al-Ahed: Our Confrontation with The Americans Is Open-ended

Al-Ahed Exclusive

The first martyrdom anniversary of the two leaders, Hajj Qassem Soleimani and Hajj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, is a reminder to the American occupiers that their presence in the region will not last long. On this occasion, al-Ahed News sat down with the official spokesperson for the Nujaba Movement, Engineer Nasr al-Shammari, who asserted that “Iraq’s resistance is fighting an open confrontation with American occupation forces and the American hegemony. The confrontation will remain open-ended and its goal is the removal of the entirety of the US presence in the region."

Below is the transcript of the interview:

On the first anniversary of the assassination of the commander of the IRG’s Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani and the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, Hajj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, where is the response to this crime? And what do you promise the American occupier?

We, in the Iraqi resistance, have been engaged in an open confrontation with the American occupation forces and the American hegemony since 2003, and this confrontation has never stopped. In 2011, all US occupation forces that begged for a safe and timely withdrawal were expelled under fire from the resistance. The last blow was dealt to them near the border crossing with Kuwait. These forces then returned through the window in 2014 after being expelled from the door under the pretext of fighting the Daesh gang, which is essentially their creation, according to the admission from US President Donald Trump.

As for the horrific crime that led to the martyrdom of the leaders of victory, the response of the people was immediate through the millions that took part in the martyrs' funeral processions. Then came the Iraqi parliament's decision to expel the foreign forces. After that, millions of people took part in demonstrations calling for the withdrawal of American occupation forces. Then, a new page of open-ended confrontation between the resistance on the one hand and the occupation forces on the other ensued.

The occupation forces' convoys, headquarters, and camps continued to be targeted on a daily basis until they were forced to retreat to limited bases deep in the desert, which are within range of the mujahideen's weapons. These will be closed soon, as many of the bases were closed before. Despite all this, the confrontation will remain open, and its goal is the removal of the entirety of the US presence in the region because there is no American target that has the same value of the martyred leaders.

In your opinion, what is the significance of the martyrdom of the two leaders Soleimani and al-Muhandis, both of whom spent their lives together in the fields of jihad?

They were both a confirmation to the noble hadith about those whom Allah will shade in His shade on the Day of Resurrection [Two men who love one another for the sake of Allah and meet and part on that basis.]

After a blessed jihad career of more than 40 years, being in their presence, you could see that they both originate from one source. Both of them have the same ideological, human, and moral attributes, and both are characterized by honesty, clarity, humility, courage, closeness to people, and love in the hearts of the believers.

Their martyrdom together had the greatest message – the mixing of blood, approach, and fate of all the children of this blessed axis from Palestine to Afghanistan, and the enemy sees that we are one. So, it is not permissible - and this is the case - for us not to see ourselves with the same eye in which our common enemy sees us, and this is why the responsibility for this pure blood falls on us all as His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said. We clearly see that its blessing will bring victory closer.

What is the impact of the martyrdom of the two leaders, Soleimani and al-Muhandis, on the Iraqis in general and on the Iraqi resistance factions in particular?

On the humane level, I have never in my life witnessed sympathy for any major incident like the departure of these two great martyrs. You could see sadness and tears in the old and young, the educated and the simple person, man and woman. There was sorrow and grief in every gathering or position in Iraq. The observer should not be fooled by the small group that was paid to try and distort the image of this situation.

But the effects of this blessed ascension are the unification of all fronts of the resistance into one as well as the solid position and the severity of the confrontation until America pays a high price for this crime.

And the greater price will be achieving what the two martyrs have long fought for, the liberation of al-Quds, God willing.