Baghdad: Iraq’s government on Thursday retracted a terror designation for Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, just weeks after imposing the measure it now says was a mistake.
The government’s retraction came hours after reports first circulated about the designation, which was an error made “before reviewing,” according to a statement.
The initial decision, published in the official Iraqi gazette on November 17, had placed the two groups — both allies of Iran and also Iraq’s Shiite militias — among 24 organisations targeted under a national asset freeze order, accusing them of “participating in committing a terrorist act.” Iraq is under increasing pressure from the United States to clamp down on local Iran-backed militias. Baghdad is also struggling to balance its relations with Washington and Tehran, amid fears of a new Israel-Iran war that could spill over into neighbouring countries.
“The names of Hezbollah and the Houthis will be removed” in a corrected publication of the official gazette, the government said. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the error. Agencies