Iraqi MP and Hizbullah Brigades in Iraq (Kata’ib Hizbullah) official Hussain Mouanes discussed on a January 26, 2024 show on Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) a recent announcement that he has been put on the U.S. Treasury sanctions list. He said that he is proud to be on the sanctions list and that he has nothing to hide. Mouanes said that the U.S. forces must be expelled from Iraq “one way or another.” He further said that their presence in Iraq constitutes a threat. On January 22, the U.S. Treasury announced that it has sanctioned three leaders of Katai’b Hizbullah, which it referred to as “one of the IRGC-QF’s [Iranian Revolutionary Guards – Qods Force] main Iran-aligned militias in Iraq.”
Interviewer: “What was the reason you were placed on the [U.S. Treasury’s] sanctions list?”
Hussain Mouanes: “Either way, this is something I am proud of. If it is because of my positions in the past – I was acting as an Iraqi citizen opposing and confronting the occupation. If the American military has decided to tun into a policeman, and punish people for things that happened in the past – that’s their own business. And if it is because of my political activity – the truth is I have nothing to hide. I have founded a political movement, whose conviction is that we must protect and defend our country’s sovereignty.”
[…]
Interviewer: “Sanctions were also imposed on the [Fly Baghdad] airline. It is claimed that this airline delivered missiles.”
Mouanes: “I think that this is nonsense. Weapons are produced inside people’s homes nowadays. Where did all the weapons in Gaza come from? When their homes are bombed, they take the iron from the bombs, and use it to make weapons.”
[…]
Interviewer: “The Pentagon has announced that it would not leave Iraq. Elsewhere, people talk about an Iraqi-American bilateral committee to discuss the reduction of American forces in Iraq. Do you believe that steps will be taken to reduce American forces in Iraq?”
Mouanes: “First of all, the Pentagon can declare whatever it wants. This is our country, we represent the people, and we protect the sovereignty of our country.
[…]
“We will see what happens with the bilateral committee, but the bottom line – with or without a bilateral committee – is that the U.S. forces must be expelled from Iraqi soil, one way or another.”
Interviewer: “The U.S. forces must leave Iraq?”
Mouanes: “They must be expelled.
[…]
“The Americans used ISIS so they could return [to Iraq], in order to protect American national security, as well as the security and stability of Israel.
[…]
“The current U.S. presence [in Iraq] constitutes a threat, rather than serving to defend the country.”