4 Iraqis, 1 Iranian get life sentence for assassinating US citizen

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi judiciary issued a life sentence on Thursday for four Iraqis and an Iranian accused of assassinating a US citizen in Baghdad last year.

The Iranian man, Mohammed Ali Reza, is accused of being responsible for the assassination of Stephen Troell, who was killed on November 7, 2022.

An armed militia calling itself Ashab Al-Kahf (Cave Companions) had claimed responsibility for the killing of the American citizen.

The armed faction mentioned in a press release that the killing of Troell was in retaliation for the killing of the commander of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, and the commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, Al-Arabiya News reported.

Last year, local media mentioned that unidentified gunmen shot dead an American citizen named Stephen Edward Troell in the Karrada district near Rafidain Bank in Baghdad, and the victim immediately died.

The assassination took place while the citizen was driving his personal white Toyota Prado, and the gunmen were using a black Mercedes-Benz and a black Chevrolet Tahoe.

The Cave Companions has always been considered a mysterious faction since it first appeared in 2019, and although it represents a front for one of the influential Shiite factions, the majority of analyses indicate that it is a party implementing the agenda of all armed parties, raising ‘resistance’ as their slogan.

The Cave Companions claimed responsibility for violent attacks with improvised explosive devices on convoys since March 2020 and at least one missile attack on the US embassy in Baghdad on November 17, 2020.

The American citizen works for Millennium Relief and Development Services, affiliated with the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Following the assassination, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, directed the Ministry of Interior to form an investigation team to investigate the killing of Troell.