WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has threatened to impose severe sanctions on Iraq after its parliament demanded US troops withdrawal over their deadly attacks in capital Baghdad.
General Qasem Soleimani, who was the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, was killed in a drone strike directed by the U.S. President near the Baghdad international airport last Thursday.
Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was an adviser to Soleimani and a close Iraqi ally, also was killed in the attack.
Tehran has vowed to avenge the death of Soleimani, to which Trump replied, 'Should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner'.
In a resolution presented by the pro-Iranian Shia Muslim bloc on Sunday, Iraq's parliament voted to expel the US troops from its territory.
Around 5,200 US soldiers have been deployed in Iraq as part of the international coalition to help the country's security forces fight the Islamic State.
The coalition forces have already suspended its operations against the dreaded terrorist group in the war-torn country.
'We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that's there. It cost billions of dollars to build. We're not leaving unless they pay us back for it,' Trump said on board the presidential plane.
'We will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before, ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame,' he told reporters.
He made it clear that the sanctions on Iraq will be 'very big.'
Earlier, Trump warned on Twitter that if Iran strikes any Americans or American assets, Washington has targeted '52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD'.
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