Thousands of Iraq's Shia protest against Decisive Storm operation in Yemen

Thousands of Iraq’s Shia Muslims gathered in Firdous Square in central Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon to protest the Decisive Storm military operation launched by Saudi Arabia and many Gulf Cooperation Council countries against Shia Houthis in Yemen, Anadolu news agency reported.

A member of Iraq’s Parliament representing the Shia Badr bloc said he was ready, alongside many other Iraqis, to defend Yemen if the Houthi leaders asked them to join the battle.

MP Badr Mo’en Kazimi told Anadolu news agency: “The Iraqis, despite being preoccupied fighting Islamic State militants, are willing to defend Yemen.”

“If Abdul-Malik al- Houthi (the leader of the Houthi movement) wants the Iraqi mujahedeen to interfere, they are ready to defend Yemen against the enemies just like we defended Syria,” Kazimi added.

Several Iraqi Shia factions participated in the protest including Brigades of Imam Ali, the Hezbollah movement, Master of Martyrs Brigades and Badr.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, as well as Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and Jordan launched a military offensive against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen in response to Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s request for military intervention to “protect Yemen and its people from Houthis’ aggression”.

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his country’s opposition to the operation.