WANA (Dec 05) – Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad and Basra on Wednesday in car rallies to protest the initial inclusion of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Ansarullah in the Iraqi government’s list of designated terrorist groups — a move that was reversed hours later after the publication of a revised version of the list.

 

In Baghdad, convoys of vehicles set off from the Kadhimiya district, crossed al-Sarrafiya Bridge, and headed toward Karada before ending near Tahrir Square. Participants mounted large flags of Hezbollah and Ansarullah on their cars, while mobile loudspeakers broadcast anthems such as “Ya Nasrallah” and “Sari‘ lil-Jihad,” the well-known chant of the Ansarullah movement, underscoring their support for regional resistance groups.

At the same time, similar rallies were held in Basra, where demonstrators drove from the Ashar district through al-Jazair Street and along the Corniche. Local sources reported that security forces remained present only to monitor the situation and did not intervene. Videos circulating on social media showed young demonstrators on motorcycles and off-road vehicles waving yellow and green flags and chanting: “Hezbollah and the Houthis are our red line.”

 

Iraqi activists continued to share live footage and images using hashtags such as #المقاومة_خط_احمر (“Resistance Is a Red Line”) and #لا_للتصنیف_الأمریکی (“No to the American Classification”).

In an official statement, Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq movement, said: “This was not an administrative mistake, but a political project that failed. The Iraqi people, through this massive turnout, have made it clear that the resistance is the nation’s red line.”

 

The al-Nujaba Movement also announced that protests would continue until “a formal apology is issued by the prime minister and those responsible within the Terrorist Asset Freezing Committee are dismissed.”

 

Meanwhile, the official Telegram account of Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq stated: “If the government thinks it can cover up this betrayal with a single statement, it is gravely mistaken. The blood of the resistance’s martyrs will not allow the names of our brothers to be placed alongside ISIS.”

On the other side, Iraqi government spokesperson Basem al-Awadi said in a press conference yesterday: “The revised version of the list was published today in the official gazette al-Waqa’i al-Iraqiya (Issue No. 4770), and it does not include the names of any political parties or resistance movements. The government stresses that this was a technical error at the draft stage and that there was no political intent behind it.”

 

However, Iraqi social media users have circulated side-by-side images of Wednesday and Thursday editions of the official gazette, insisting that the names of Ansarullah (Item 14) and Hezbollah (Item 17) were clearly listed in the initial version and were only removed following public pressure and popular backlash.