Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani met representatives of several armed groups in Baghdad’s airport to convince the militias to pause their attacks on US forces, Reuters said on Sunday.
A number of Iraqi and Iranian sources informed Reuters that Qaani visited Baghdad less than 48 hours after the US blamed Iranian proxies for the attack on Tower 22 base in Jordan that killed three American service members.
Qaani, who never left the airport on January 29, warned the militias a US response would be severe and persuaded the groups to lie low in order to avoid strikes on senior commanders and infrastructure.
Kataib Hezbollah announced a suspension of attacks on US forces the following day.
There have been no attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since February 4 but there were more than 20 two weeks prior to Qaani’s visit to Baghdad.
A senior commander in an Iran-backed Iraqi militia cited by Reuters said without Qaani’s intervention it would have been impossible to convince Kataib Hezbollah to suspend attacks.
Nujaba, a smaller but active group, vowed to continue attacks on US forces despite Qaani’s intervention.
A US strike in Baghdad on February 7 killed senior Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Baqir al-Saadi. Abdul Aziz Al Mohammedawi, a senior Kataib Hezbollah official and a Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) chief vowed to respond to the killing of Saadi but did not announce a return to strikes targeting the US.
