Sheikh Mohammad Hussein Al-Kawtharani, Lebanese Hezbollah’s point man on Iraq, has arrived in Baghdad to coordinate an escalation in operations against the US military presence in the country, Amwaj.media has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity, informed Arab sources said the mid-ranking Shiite cleric traveled to the Iraqi capital in the early hours of Jan. 5 for what is expected to be his first extended stay in two years.

Kawtharani’s arrival notably preceded a speech by Hassan Nasrallah in which the Hezbollah chief outlined an impending response to Israel’s suspected assassinations of senior Hamas and Quds Force commanders in Beirut and Damascus.

A seasoned player in Iraq

While Kawtharani has long served as Hezbollah’s representative to Iraq, his public profile significantly rose after the US assassination in Baghdad of Iranian Quds commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) deputy chief Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Amid the temporary leadership vacuum, Kawtharani is...