Iraqi militia says Israel will not strike Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iran-backed Iraqi armed group on Wednesday said that Israel will not strike Iraq despite its threats due to security agreements between Baghdad and Washington that protect the country. 

“It will not be implemented. All calculations confirm that Israel will not implement its threats to strike Iraq due to Washington and Baghdad being bound by security agreements that protect Iraq,” Kadhim al-Fartusi, spokesperson for the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, part of the government-linked but Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, told Rudaw.

Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar asked for “immediate action” against “attacks on Israel conducted by the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq” and to ensure that Iraq “fulfills its obligations” to “prevent the use of its territory as a base for attacks against other nations.”

“The coming days will reveal the seriousness of their implementation or not,” Fartusi said, adding that Israel is exhausted by fighting on several fronts and that it cannot afford to continue striking the region.

Iraq’s government responded to Israel’s letter on Tuesday, describing it as “a pretext to justify aggression against Iraq and an attempt to expand the ongoing war in the region.”

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, Baghdad has struggled to keep the delicate balance between maintaining relations with pro-Iran militias and keeping them at bay, and protecting the diplomatic and military interests of Western countries allied to Israel, particularly the United States.

In October, the Israeli army announced that two of its soldiers were killed and 24 others were injured when a suicide drone launched from Iraq hit a military base in the Golan Heights.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow militia groups backed by Iran, has launched several drone attacks against Israel in recent months. The militias have repeatedly threatened to join the war against Israel.

These attacks by the militia groups have raised concerns that Iraq could be dragged into the war - something Iraqi officials have said they want to avoid.

The United States warned on Monday that Iran-backed groups operating in Iraq risk dragging the country into a regional conflict.

“Iran aligned militia groups inside Iraq risk destabilizing Iraq. They risk dragging the country into a regional war by conducting unsanctioned attacks both within Iraq and outside of Iraq's borders,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told Rudaw during a press briefing.