“Protecting diplomatic missions operating in Iraq is an Iraqi duty, and the prime minister specifically supervises this issue,” Qasim al-Araji told a visiting European Union delegation in Baghdad, adding that Sudani has issued orders to the interior ministry to protect the missions and that there is “no threat” to their security inside Iraq.
Attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria have soared over the past week over Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Iran-backed militias have launched repeated rocket and drone strikes on bases in both countries where US troops are present as an integral part of an international coalition to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks on US troops in Iraq.
The group has linked the attacks to the US support for Israel.
On Monday, Sudani condemned the repeated strikes on bases hosting US troops in Iraq, stressing that Washington is in the country upon an official invitation from the Iraqi government to support and train security forces in the fight against ISIS. The condemnation came after the US updated its travel advisory to warn US citizens against traveling to Iraq.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Sudani the same day to pursue the attackers of US bases and troops in Iraq.
Appreciate Iraqi PM @mohamedshia productive call with @SecDef to discuss the importance of the U.S.-Iraqi partnership in supporting regional security. #USIraq360Partnership.
— Ambassador Alina L. Romanowski (@USAmbIraq) October 25, 2023
“The region is going through a difficult time, and we must work to stop the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip,” Araji said. “The expansion of the war will ignite the entire region, and all of our responsibility is to stop the escalation and stop all military operations in Gaza.”
On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced new deployments to the Middle East “to further strengthen the Department of Defense posture in the region.” He said the decision was made after a discussion with President Joe Biden about “recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East Region.”
