If the Iraqi government forces the removal of US forces, Baghdad will face “sanctions like they’ve never seen before,” President Donald Trump said Sunday.
Trump said the prospective economic penalties would far outweigh the crippling sanctions the US has imposed on Iran, adding: “If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq.”
“WE ARE NOT LEAVING UNLESS THEY PAY US BACK FOR IT”
The warning comes after Iraq’s parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to oust US troops in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the former chief architect of Tehran’s regional operations.
The State Department expressed its disappointment over the vote, urging Baghdad to reconsider it.
Trump framed his threat of biting sanctions in terms of US military investments in Iraq, referencing in particular an air base the U.S. has helped develop. “We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build,” he added. “We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.”