ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Baghdad has called on the United States to provide evidence after Trump administration officials said a recent drone attack on Saudi Arabia's oil pipelines was launched from Iraqi territory.
Two Saudi pumping stations were struck in a series of drone attacks on May 14, causing a fire and some minor damage. Aramco, the Saudi state oil company, was forced to briefly close its 700-mile east-west pipeline as a result.
Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen frequently attack Saudi infrastructure with drones and missiles launched over its southern border. However, US officials said last week the attack against its Saudi allies came from the north — from Iraqi territory.
Although they did not rule out the claims, Iraqi officials have denied knowledge of the attack’s origin and insist any such activity on their territory would not be tolerated.
“Iraq is committed to preventing any attacks on neighbouring countries from its territories," Nasir Harki, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security committee, told Rudaw English on Sunday
“However, there is not enough clear evidence that proves or denies the drones that attacked Saudi Arabia’s oil pipelines were launched from Iraq,” he added.
Harem Kamal Agha, who also sits on the security committee, told Rudaw English: “The Iraqi parliament, alongside the Iraqi prime minister, is waiting for the US response regarding their comments about recent Saudi drone attacks originated from Iraq.”
“No one has full knowledge about why US claimed the drones which attacked Saudi oil pipelines were launched from Iraq, and everybody is waiting for the evidence.”
Commenting on the US claims at his weekly press conference in Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said he had been briefed by Washington, but claimed Iraq’s own military intelligence officials could not verify the findings.
“Yes the Americans spoke [to us] as part of their perception, intelligence reports that these drones may have taken off from Iraq,” Abdul-Mahdi told reporters.
“However, all of our intelligence departments, meteorological departments, and air [force] command didn’t confirm this news,” he added, demanding further evidence to substantiate the claims.
US Central Command was not able to comment on the matter.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the US claims on June 28, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already warned Abdul-Mahdi not to allow Iraq to become a platform for launching attacks.
Iraqi President Barham Salih recently told CNN: “We do not want our territory to be a staging post for any hostile action against any of our neighbours, including Iran.”
Rising tensions between the US and Iran in recent months risk dragging Iraq into a proxy war. Baghdad, which is an ally of both Washington and Tehran, fears the presence of powerful Iran-backed Shiite militias could undermine its desire to remain neutral.
These militias are already suspected of attacking US interests within Iraq. In early June, a rocket was fired at the Baghdad Green Zone, which houses the US embassy compound. Mortar shells and rockets also fell on the Balad and Taji military bases north of Baghdad, which host US and coalition technicians and advisors.
The Pentagon Q1 2019 report catalogued a series of incidents between the US-led coalition forces and Shiite forces in Anbar and Nineveh provinces.
"[A] PMF checkpoint forced a Coalition reconnaissance unit to turn around while traveling to support a meeting with an Iraqi official near the Sinjar Mountains in Ninewah," the report stated, although noting that the incidents haven't "significantly degraded security operations."
If Iran-backed militias in Iraq kill US personnel or succeed in opening up a new northern front against Iran’s Saudi rivals, Baghdad could find itself dragged into a new conflict, just as it emerges from a devastating war with the Isalmic State group (ISIS).
Saudi Arabia is locked in a proxy war with Iran in Yemen, a conflict which has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. Iran is accused of sending Houthi fighters heavy weaponry for use against the Saudi-led coalition and Saudi infrastructure, allegations Tehran denies.
US-Iran tensions have escalated in recent months since US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in May 2018, claiming the landmark accord did not go far enough to prevent Tehran acquiring a nuclear weapon.
A raft of sanctions were re-instated in November targetting Iran’s economy, particularly against its lucrative oil sector in a bid to bring Tehran to the negotiating table. Citing unspecified Iranian threats, the United States also deployed an aircraft carrier group, B-52 bombers, jets, and more troops to the Persian Gulf.
Tensions mounted further in June when six tankers were attacked in the Gulf. The US has accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of planting limpet mines on the ships, allegations Tehran denies.
This was followed on June 20 with the shooting down of a US Navy reconnaissance drone. The US military insists the drone was flying in international airspace when it was destroyed by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. Tehran said the drone violated its airspace and has complained to the UN.
Trump has repeatedly said the door is open to negotiations with Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, however, has called the US the “most vicious regime” rejected talk of negotiations as “deception”.
