Iran’s allies in the Iraqi parliament kicked off on Monday efforts to expel American forces deployed in the country amid mounting tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Russia Today reported that MP Hassan Salem was charged with collecting the signatures of lawmakers in order to include an article on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq during the next parliamentary session.
Salem is a member of the Sadiqoun bloc that is affiliated with the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq group.
He collected 53 signatures.
Another Sadiqoun MP, Wajih Abbas, had previously said that 9,000 American troops were deployed in Iraq.
He had demanded that parliament intervene and reduce the number to around 3,000.
Shiite authority Kazem al-Haeri had in August issued a fatwa, or religious edict, barring the deployment of American troops in Iraq.
He had allegedly declared that he would confront them himself “if he had the strength to carry arms,” said RT.
The American forces were deployed to Iraq in 2014 to combat the ISIS terrorist group that had captured large swathes of the country and Syria at the time.
The group has since been defeated in both countries.
