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Iraqis have launched a campaign on social media to boycott Iranian goods

Iraqis have launched a campaign on social media to boycott Iranian goods, coinciding with rising public anger over Iran's role in Iraq and talk of its participation in the suppression of anti-government protests.

Hashtag activists circulated "let it go" and called on Iraqis to boycott any product made in Iran

Twitterers said one of the campaign's main goals was to punish Tehran and pressure it economically to stop its interventions in Iraq
Campaigners also aim to encourage Iraqis to buy locally manufactured products to revitalize the country's shattered economy.

Over the past few years, the Iraqi market has been flooded with products imported from most of Iraq's neighbors.

Iranian goods were not limited to anything, but included almost everything from vegetables to dairy products and electrical goods to cars, building materials, gas and electricity

For example, the volume of Iranian exports to Iraq in 2016 amounted to about $ 6 billion, or about 15 percent of Iraq's total imports in the same year.

On the other hand, Tehran's imports from Iraq were limited to some oil products with a shy amount not exceeding 60 million dollars.

The "Let it go" campaign coincided with a wave of anger that has escalated during the ongoing protests in Iraq against Iranian influence and the growing influence of Tehran-backed militias

In the past few days, demonstrations in Baghdad and southern cities have seen angry protesters burning the Iranian flag and pictures of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Quds Force
commander Qasem Soleimani.

The Washington Institute for Near East Studies cited information from a group of Iraqi militias, Iraqi security chiefs and Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers who formed a crisis cell in Baghdad on October 3 to crack down on demonstrations.

The cell, according to the institute, included Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi national security adviser Faleh al-Fayyad, director of the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Abu Jihad al-Hashemi, and a group of prominent leaders of armed factions backed by Iran.

Since October 1, 257 people have been killed in demonstrations and violence in Iraq, according to official figures.

Article Credit: https://www.alhurra.com/
Special Thanks to Charles Bright!