ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The family of slain Popular Mobilization Commission (PMC) Chairman Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on Wednesday issued a strongly-worded statement censuring US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi for their comments about the Iraqi militia commander during a White House presser.

Muhandis was killed alongside Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, in a US airstrike ordered directly by Trump during his first term, outside Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020. 

During the White House press conference with Zaidi on Tuesday, Trump recounted the killing of Soleimani and Muhandis, whom he described as “a very bad person,” before turning to the Iraqi premier and saying: “I don’t know if I did you a favor or not.”

“This scene clearly demonstrates this criminal’s [Trump’s] fear of the crimes he has committed and their repercussions, especially in Iraq and at the hands of the valiant Iraqi people,” read the statement from Muhandis’ family.

Zaidi avoided explicitly addressing Trump’s comments, stating: “At that time I was not practicing politics. During my visit, I would like to talk about what we will do in the future. We are fed up with our near past.”

The family also criticized Zaidi for his response, telling the businessman-turned-politician: “Whoever shirks his country's glorious past severs his ties with his nation's roots, and whoever's past is one of falsehood is not worthy of leading the future.”

The family renewed its pledge to the late PMC chief and its vows to take revenge from Trump, despite the ongoing campaign from the Iraqi government to disarm all non-state armed actors by the end of September.

“Even if we cannot bear arms, we will drown this criminal and his henchmen in America, the region, and Iraq in our blood,” read the statement.

The confinement of weapons within the authority of the Iraqi state has emerged as one of the central objectives of Zaidi’s government program, a move warmly welcomed by Washington.

During the presser with Trump, Zaidi reiterated that all armed factions are required to hand over their weapons to the state by September 30, a date which coincides with the completion of the withdrawal of the US-led global coalition forces from Iraq.

Several pro-Iran Iraqi factions have already announced their willingness to hand over weapons and integrate into the state security apparatus, with some also declaring willingness to sever their ties with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of Iran-aligned Iraqi Shiite militias backed by the IRGC, on Sunday rejected Zaidi’s trip to Washington, saying it coincides with the people’s grief over the “heinous crimes” of the US and Israel in the region, and adding that any agreement made during the visit must be brought before the parliament.

Both Zaidi and Trump stressed that the future of Baghdad-Washington relations will lie in investment opportunities and economic cooperation, not just security, with the American leader stating that the US will be “taking out a lot of oil” from Iraq.

Muhandis’ family claimed that Zaidi’s presence in Washington has two main objectives: Dismantling the PMF, “thus completing a process that began with the assassination of the PMF commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,” and seizing control of Iraq's oil wealth.

The statement described the push to disarm “resistance” groups as “a rejected American-Zionist discourse,“ while also emphasizing “the necessity of resisting and confronting the economic presence that seeks to plunder our resources, just as we resist their military presence with all our might.”