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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States Congress has passed a bill that includes equipping Peshmerga and Iraqi forces with air defense systems next year. The bill, the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), is now waiting for President Joe Biden’s signature.
“Not later than February 1, 2024, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall develop a plan of action to equip and train Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga forces to defend against attack by missiles, rockets, and unmanned systems,” reads a provision in the $886 billion defense policy bill that was passed this week by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The plan must include “provision of available equipment to Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to counter the air and missile threats addressed in the report, to include air defense systems, to counter attack by missiles, rockets, and unmanned systems,” as well as training on using the equipment.
The plan must be implemented by the defense secretary within 90 days of its development, however, implementation can be delayed if it “would adversely impact United States stock and readiness,” the bill reads.
Representative Don Bacon, who introduced the provision, said it was to increase the defensive capabilities of Kurdish and Iraqi forces “under frequent attack by Iran and its proxy forces in the region.”
Iran-backed militias in Iraq have frequently carried out rocket and drone attacks on bases housing US forces in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, demanding the Americans leave the country. The militias renewed their attacks in mid-October, angry over Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip. US troops have come under at least 89 separate attacks in the past two months, according to the Pentagon.
A pro-Iran Iraqi militia group under the name of “the Islamic Resistance in Iraq” has claimed responsibility. Washington has repeatedly condemned the strikes and called on Baghdad to put a stop to them. The US has also stated that it reserves the right to self-defense and has retaliated with air and drone strikes.
Last week, the US embassy in Baghdad was the target of a rocket attack. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani condemned attacks on diplomatic missions as terrorism. He issued a directive to pursue the perpetrators and reiterated Iraq’s commitment to protect diplomatic missions, but warned against any direct response without Baghdad’s approval.
The increase in attacks has imposed on the US a need to defend itself and its interests in the region, according to Bilal Wahab, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“The threat is tough… and the attacks are less random… The number of attacks has increased and became more dangerous, in terms of quality,” Wahab told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih on Friday.
“Maybe the US does not want to get into a war with the militias or get into a war with Iran, these are strategic topics and big questions, but the matter of protecting itself, it is the basics of every force,” he said.
In June, after the air defense provision was introduced into the NDAA, Iran was not happy and requested an explanation from the Iraqi government.
“Both the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional authorities should act responsibly and adhere to maintaining the neighborly policy in relations with Iran," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani was quoted by the Tehran Times.
"The Iraqi government will definitely clarify this issue and the regional authorities should also explain in this regard and we should see what their explanation is in this regard," he added.
Both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region maintain good neighborly relations with Iran. The two countries have a new border security pact in which Iraq promised to disarm Iranian Kurdish opposition forces on the border. Iran has fired ballistic missiles at these groups in the Kurdistan Region. Tehran accuses them of stoking unrest in Iran.
On Thursday, Kurdistan Region’s Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who commended Iraq for implementing the security agreement.
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