Baghdad must remain ‘committed’ to UN complaint against Israel: Tehran

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq must remain committed to its recent complaint against Israel at the United Nations accusing it of violating Iraqi airspace to strike Tehran, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday. 

“The Iraqi government must consider itself committed to reacting and protesting the misuse of its territory to the United Nations in order to prevent the repetition of crimes,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a presser. 

Baghaei expressed confidence that no neighboring country allowed Israel to use its airspace to attack Iran. 

On Monday, the Iraqi government announced it had submitted a letter of protest to the UN Security Council over Israel’s “flagrant violation” of Iraq’s sovereignty by using its airspace to strike Iran. 

The protest letter to the UN “included condemnation of the flagrant violation committed by the Zionist entity by its aggressor aircraft violating Iraqi airspace and sovereignty,” according to a statement from Iraqi government spokesperson Basem al-Awadi. 

During the presser, Baghaei underscored Iran’s recent diplomatic efforts and affirmed its right to self-defense. On Saturday, Tehran stated that it reserves the right to respond against Israel. 

“We are resolute in our response,” Baghaei stressed. 

Bagahei stated that Iranian security forces “are constantly monitoring [Israel’s] movements.”

The Iranian army said on Saturday that Israel used airspace provided by the United States inside Iraq to launch its attack on Iran.

Israel carried out strikes on several Iranian targets early Saturday morning, and four Iranian soldiers were killed in the attack which Israel said was in response to Tehran’s attacks on Israel. 

Iran has directly attacked Israel twice. The first time was in April when Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones in retaliation for a deadly strike on its embassy that Tehran blamed on Israel. The second time was on October 1 in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander.