Iraq calls on UN Security Council to condemn US strike that killed Soleimani

Iraq is reportedly calling on the United Nations Security Council to condemn the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad last week. 

Iraq’s ambassador to the U.N., Mohammed Hussein Bahr Aluloom, called the strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani an “assassination” and a “flagrant violation” of terms under which U.S. forces operate in the country on Monday, The Associated Press reports. 

Bahr Aluloom in a letter to the council also urged the council to hold accountable “those who have committed such violations,” and ensure that Iraq “is not dragged into international and regional crises,” according to AP. 

In the letter, Bahr Aluloom reportedly said the strike was a “dangerous escalation that might ignite a devastating war in Iraq, the region and the world.” 

Following last week’s strike, which was ordered by President Trump, Iraq’s parliament voted to expel the U.S. military from the country. The nonbinding resolution that passed Sunday reportedly demanded an end to foreign military presence in the country with the aim of forcing the U.S. to withdraw 5,000 troops.

Democrats have been critical of Trump’s order for the strike as well as his decision to bypass briefing Congress ahead of the order. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the House will vote on a resolution to limit Trump’s military actions toward Iran. 

Trump has warned that the U.S. will attack Iran if it retaliates for the strike that killed Soleimani, whom administration officials blame for the deaths of U.S. troops and say was planning an “imminent attack.”