Iraq condemns U.S. air strikes as unacceptable and dangerous

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Monday condemned U.S. air strikes on bases of Iraqi militia, a move that could plunge Iraq further into the heart of a proxy conflict between the United States and Iran.

The U.S. military carried out air strikes on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said.

At least 25 militia fighters were killed and 55 wounded.

“The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences,” his office said.

The air strikes will force Iraq to reconsider working with the U.S.-led international coalition against Islamic State, the National Security Council said in a statement.

Iraq’s foreign ministry said it would summon the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad to voice Baghdad’s disapproval.

Tensions have risen between Iran and the United States – Iraq’s two main allies – since last year when President Donald Trump pulled out of world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed forces – which helped Baghdad turn the tables on Islamic State militants and are integrated into the Iraqi security apparatus – for attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq. He said any attacks by Tehran or proxies harming Americans or allies would be “answered with a decisive U.S. response.”

U.S. officials said Washington had displayed patience amid escalating provocations from Iran and its allies, but that it was time to re-establish deterrence against aggression.

“After so many attacks it was important for the president to direct our armed forces to respond in a way that the Iranian regime will understand,” U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook said in a news briefing.

Iran denies involvement in attacks on U.S. forces and has condemned the air raids as “terrorism”.

“This claim without any evidence cannot justify bombing and killing people in violation of international law,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said.

Source: Reuters