Iran denies involvement in Iraq rocket attacks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran has officially denied its involvement in recent rocket attacks in Iraq in a letter to the United Nations (UN), according to Iranian state media. 

Addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Iran’s ambassador to the UN Majid Takht-Ravanchi said the country had no direct or indirect involvement on attacks against US troops in the country.  

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has not been directly or indirectly involved in any armed attack against any US individual or body in Iraq," he wrote on Sunday, according to Press TV, Iran’s English-language state media outlet.

"We deny any claim about our implicit or explicit involvement in attacks against American forces in Iraq. Such allegations are totally baseless, invalid and false.” 

A number of rocket attacks have targeted Iraqi bases hosting US troops in recent months, as well as the US embassy in Baghdad. Several rockets landed in Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to the US embassy, late last month, a week after a rocket attack on Erbil which led to the death of two civilians. 

Iran-backed militias are often suspected to be behind the attacks, which have increased since the US assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January 2020. 

US President Joe Biden discussed the continuous rocket attacks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in a phone call last month, agreeing that those responsible for such attacks must be held fully to account.

The US had previously threatened to withdraw all troops from Iraq and close its embassy if Kadhimi failed to reign in Iran-backed militias.

The ambassador also condemned US airstrikes on Iran-backed militants in Syria last month – Biden’s first military action against Tehran-linked groups since taking office in January – as a “blatant breach” of international law, Press TV said.