Date: Feb 7, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Sistani rejects Trump’s plan for troops in Iraq Associated Press BAGHDAD: Iraq’s most senior Shiite religious leader Wednesday joined a chorus of Iraqi politicians and preachers criticizing recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump in which he said U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighboring Iran. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Iraq aspires to have “good and balanced relations” with all of its neighbors “based on mutual interests and without intervention in internal affairs.” Iraq “rejects being a launching pad for harming any other country,” he said during a meeting with U.N. Iraq envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert at the his base in Najaf. Both Iraq’s president and prime minister have hit back at Trump’s statements to U.S. media this week stating that U.S. troops should stay at a base in Iraq so that America can “watch Iran.” “We spent a fortune on building this incredible base,” Trump said. “We might as well keep it. “And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem.” Trump apparently was referring to the Al-Asad air base in western Iraq. The base hosts American troops but belongs to the Iraqi army. The comments angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions and further added to concerns in Iraq about America’s long-term intentions, particularly after it withdraws its troops from Syria. Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi, at his weekly news conference late Tuesday, reminded Trump that there are no U.S. bases in Iraq and said he doesn’t accept the idea of Iraq becoming an arena for fighting a neighboring country. He called on Trump to retract his statements. Iraqi President Barham Saleh said Monday that the U.S. president did not ask for permission to use Iraqi territory to monitor Iran and said that the Iraqi constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighboring countries. “Don’t overburden Iraq with your own issues,” he said. Trump first said he wants to keep troops in Iraq as a base to strike at Daesh in Syria, then said the troops were needed to monitor Iran.