TNT – “Tidbits From TNT” Saturday Morning 11-23-2024

0
57

Tishwash:  Parliament resumes its sessions next week… and clarification of the mechanism for extending its legislative term

A member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee explained the mechanism for extending the legislative term of the House of Representatives.

Aref Al-Hamami told Al-Furat News Agency that “extending the legislative term of the House of Representatives does not require a vote, but rather only a decision from the Speaker of the House and his deputies to decide the legislative term.”
He added, “The next session is scheduled to include the general amnesty and personal status laws, and work will be done to resolve them.”

He added, “There is nothing new regarding the 2025 budget schedules, and we are waiting for them to arrive from the government.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives decided on the fourth of this month to resume sessions next week after the completion of the population census operations in the country.  link

Tishwash:  Expectations of an “elite” Iranian delegation arriving in Baghdad.. 3 files on the table

 An informed source expected, today, Friday (November 22, 2024), the arrival of an elite Iranian delegation to Baghdad within the next 72 hours.

The source said in an interview with “Baghdad Today”, “Tehran has indirect lines of communication through 3 Arab countries, including Baghdad, with the White House to convey messages and positions regarding developments in the Middle East and ways to prevent it from reaching the stage of comprehensive war.”

He added that “an elite Iranian delegation may arrive in Baghdad within the next 72 hours to discuss Tehran’s positions on three files, most notably Gaza and Lebanon, the importance of stopping the war, and its vision of the situation and the roadmap that could stop the tensions at a certain point.”

He pointed out that “Tehran is very open to the issue of stopping the war as quickly as possible and pressuring Western countries, including America, in order to move the pressure tools on the entity and stop the genocide machine,” noting that “all indicators show that the Middle East is facing rapid changes, and the language of diplomacy may be slightly higher for the first time than the language of war.”

In a related matter, an informed source revealed, on Thursday (November 21, 2024), an Iranian message with positive content to Washington through Iraqi mediators.

The source said in an interview with “Baghdad Today”, “Tehran sent yesterday, through Iraqi mediators, an indirect message to America about its vision for resolving the crisis and the dangerous escalation in the Middle East, starting with ending the war of extermination in Gaza and southern Lebanon, stopping the bombing in Beirut and seeking a roadmap with an international vision.”

He added that “the Iranian message carried diplomatic signals in most of its lines, which means that it wants to reach a solution that ends the current conflict according to a vision with specific dimensions, while indicating that it does not want a comprehensive war, but will engage in it if it is imposed on it directly.”

He pointed out that “it can be sensed that the Iranian military option on Tel Aviv has been postponed at the present time in light of undeclared international efforts to prevent the explosion of the Middle East, in addition to waiting to see the new American president and how he will deal with the files of the East and his promises to end the war.”

The source said that “Iran has begun to tone down its rhetoric towards diplomacy, through which solutions can be reached that contribute to stopping the bloodshed, while declaring a firm position that it will not abandon the axis of resistance.”

Iraq played the role of mediator in the indirect dialogue between Washington and Tehran, and contributed to preventing events from developing into a major regional comprehensive war.   link

************

Tishwash:  Protecting Iraq is an American duty: Security agreements are not just ink on paper

In a tense atmosphere that portends an unprecedented escalation, news continues about intensive security and diplomatic moves to prevent a confrontation between Israel and Iraq, against the backdrop of attacks by armed factions on Israeli sites. While Israel has filed an official complaint with the UN Security Council against Iraq, fears are growing of an “imminent” Israeli strike that could open the door to escalation in the region.

The political advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Fadi Al-Shammari, said in press statements that “the Israeli threats have become tangible after the complaint that Tel Aviv filed with the Security Council.” He explained that the Iraqi government is working on more than one level to contain the crisis and avoid its disastrous repercussions.

Sources said that Baghdad received direct warnings from Washington that Israel was prepared to take military action unless the government could rein in the armed factions.

A source said that the Security Council is witnessing intense discussions regarding the Israeli complaint. He added: “Israel is trying to provide justifications for a possible military strike, claiming that the attacks are being launched from Iraqi territory with Iranian support.”

Washington in the circle of pressure

For its part, Washington finds itself in a sensitive position under the “Strategic Framework Agreement” with Baghdad, which imposes on it the responsibility to defend Iraq against any external threat.

However, observers believe that the American position may be less clear than it seems, as an analysis published by a Washington research center indicated that “Israel may resort to limited surgical strikes without waiting for a public green light from the United States.”

Between the field and diplomacy

A citizen named Ahmed Al-Saadi spoke about the tense atmosphere in a Facebook post, saying: “What is happening now brings to mind the atmosphere of war in the nineties. People here are afraid of the repercussions of any new confrontation.” In a tweet on the “X” platform, an account said: “If the news of an imminent Israeli strike is true, Iraq may witness one of its most complex crises since the fall of the former regime.”

Faction movements and internal balances

Field reports indicated that some armed factions have begun taking precautionary measures in preparation for any possible attack. A source close to one of the factions said in a private interview: “We are ready to defend Iraqi territory if Israel targets it.” But a citizen from Baghdad named Zainab al-Ali expressed her fears about the repercussions of these moves, saying: “Iraqis always pay the highest price in such conflicts.”

Future analysis and escalation expectations

According to strategic analyses, Israel is exploiting the escalation to impose a new equation in the region, which was confirmed by a reliable source, who said: “Any Israeli strike could be the beginning of an expansion of the conflict, as the factions will not only respond from within Iraq, but we may witness other fronts igniting.” He added: “The biggest fear is that Iraq will turn into an arena for settling regional scores.”

Iraq needs a unified position from political forces to ward off the Israeli threat, away from the divisions that have weakened the country over the past years.”  link