Iran seeks to blame Iraqi assassination attempt on US

[ad_1]

Iran insinuated on Sunday that the United States was behind a drone assassination attempt on the Iraqi prime minister, despite evidence suggesting the attack was in fact carried out by Tehran-backed militias who used drones to wreak havoc in Baghdad.

The head of national security of the Islamic Republic claimed that the attack was the work of “foreign think tanks”, while the spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry said it was linked to forces. that have been pushing evil in the Middle East since 2003 – a veiled reference to the US invasion of Iraq.

US and Iraqi officials brushed aside innuendo amid growing suspicions that it was Iranian-backed militias – angry at the results of recent Iraqi elections – who carried out the attack on the residence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Baghdad early Sunday.

Mr. al-Kadhimi suffered only a slight cut to his hand during the attack, which allegedly involved three separate drones flying in a coordinated fashion. Two were intercepted while a third exploded in the residence of the green zone of the Iraqi capital, injuring several security agents of the Prime Minister.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the Associated Press noted that the attack occurred amid a standoff between Iraqi security forces and pro-Iranian Shiite militias whose supporters have camped outside the Green Zone for nearly a month since the political parties they support lost about two-thirds of their seats in the election.

Pro-Iranian militias and security forces exchanged fire on Friday when protesters attempted to enter the green zone. A protester affiliated with the militias was killed and dozens of members of the security forces were injured. Some leaders of the most powerful factions of the militias, which are widely known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (FMP), later accused Mr. al-Kadhimi of being responsible for the protester’s death.

“The blood of the martyrs must hold you accountable,” said Qais al-Khazali, militia leader Asaib Ahl al-Haq, addressing Mr. al-Kadhimi at the protester’s funeral on Saturday. “The protesters had only one demand against election fraud. Answer like this [with live fire] means that you are primarily responsible for this fraud.

U.S. officials have long cited evidence of direct support for PMFs in Iraq from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Former President Trump authorized a US drone strike in January 2020 that killed Iranian General Qassim Soleimani, who had been the commander of the elite IRGC Quds force, which US officials say manages the relations of Iran with proxy Shiite militias not only in Iraq, but around the Middle East.

Soleimani was targeted during a meeting in Iraq with former PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was also killed in the 2020 strike near Baghdad international airport.

Since President Biden took office, the Pentagon has recognized other US strikes targeting what officials have described as “Iranian-backed militia groups” in the Iraqi-Syrian border region. The groups are accused of attacks on US personnel in the region to support Iraqi military operations to counter extremism.

Mr Biden condemned Sunday and called the drone attack on the Iraqi prime minister’s house a “terrorist attack”, but made no mention of Iran or the PMF.

“The perpetrators of this terrorist attack on the Iraqi state must be held responsible,” the president said in a statement. “I condemn in the strongest terms those who use violence to undermine Iraq’s democratic process.

“I have asked my national security team to offer all appropriate assistance to the Iraqi security forces as they investigate this attack and identify those responsible,” Biden said. “The United States stands firmly on the side of the Iraqi government and people as they strive to defend the sovereignty and independence of Iraq.

His comments contrasted with those from Iran, whose state media said Iranian leaders condemned the attack, but also hinted that it was somehow backed by Washington.

“The attempted assassination of al-Kadhimi is a new plot that must be traced to foreign think tanks, which have only brought insecurity, discord and instability to the Iraqi people oppressed by creation and the support of terrorist groups and the occupation of this country for years, ”Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, wrote on his Twitter page on Sunday, according to the Islamic Republic’s Fars news agency.

Another report by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also called the incident a conspiracy by outside forces. “Such events are in the interest of the parties who have violated the stability, security, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq over the past 18 years and have pursued their evil objectives in the region by creating terrorist groups and doing mischief, the spokesperson said, ”according to IRNA.

Mr. al-Kadhimi, meanwhile, appeared on Iraqi television on Sunday with what appeared to be a bandage on his left hand. “Cowardly rocket and drone attacks don’t build homelands and build a future,” he said.

This article is based in part on press service reports.

Subscribe to daily newsletters

[ad_2]