$10 million US reward for information about “Abu Alaa Al-Wala’i”

The US State Department has offered a reward of up to $10 million to anyone who provides information about the Secretary-General of the Iranian-backed Iraqi armed “Sayyid al-Shuhada” Brigades, Hashem Fanian Rahimi al-Sarji, which Washington considers a terrorist organization.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on social media on Thursday that the search is underway for Al-Saraji, also known as Abu Alaa Al-Walaei. The post stated that the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades “killed Iraqi civilians and attacked American diplomatic facilities in Iraq, in addition to attacking American military bases and individuals in Iraq and Syria.”

The post offered the possibility of residency in the United States, in addition to a financial reward for anyone who provides information about him.

Al-Saraji is one of the leaders of the “Coordination Framework” coalition, which is composed of Shiite parties close to Iran and constitutes the largest bloc in Parliament.

Iranian-backed groups are targeting the US embassy in Baghdad and its diplomatic and logistical facilities at the airport, in addition to oil fields operated by foreign companies.

Iraq was not spared the repercussions of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which lasted for more than 40 days. During it, the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces and Iraqi armed factions loyal to Iran were subjected to raids attributed to the United States and Israel, while American interests were targeted with attacks claimed by Iraqi factions, and Tehran carried out strikes against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the north of the country.

Washington intensified its pressure on Baghdad to confront factions loyal to Tehran by suspending cash shipments and freezing funding for security programs in Iraq.