Tasnim – Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad dismissed the allegation made by a senior US diplomat that the Islamic Republic is meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq.

“... Iraq is an independent country and does not need interference from anyone,” Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi said in a tweet.

He was reacting to US Assistant State Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker who has accused Iran of interference in the domestic affairs of Iraq.

“Instead of telling such lies, the US had better end its policies that are based on threat, sanction and terror,” the Iranian ambassador added.

Masjedi further condemned a “brutal” Daesh attack that resulted in the martyrdom of a number of Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) forces in Iraq, and expressed sympathy with the Iraqi people and government.

At least ten members of Hashd al-Shaabi forces were killed in the attack carried out by the Daesh terror group in the Arab country’s Salahuddin province.

Daesh has intensified its attacks in Iraq amid Baghdad’s call on the US to pull out its forces from the Arab country.

In a vote on January 5, the Iraqi parliament called for an end to the presence of all foreign troops, including Americans.

The vote came two days after the US military - acting on US President Donald Trump’s order - launched a fatal drone strike on senior Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.

The attack also claimed the lives of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of the PMU, and eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.

Washington has threatened sanctions should US troops be expelled instead of heeding the Iraqi parliament’s call to end the occupation of the country.