Iraq accused the U.S. of violating its territorial sovereignty after the Pentagon carried out another series of strikes this week targeting Iranian-backed militia groups in the country.
Yehia Rasool, spokesperson for Iraq’s commander in chief, said the strikes were a “clear determination to harm security and stability in Iraq” and the attacks damaged ongoing talks on the American presence in the country.
“This unacceptable act undermines years of cooperation, blatantly violates Iraq’s sovereignty, and contributes to an irresponsible escalation,” Rasool said in a Wednesday statement. “It occurs at a time when the region is already grappling with the danger of expanding conflict, the repercussions of the aggression on Gaza, and the consequences of the immoral war of extermination faced by the Palestinian people.”
The U.S. said Tuesday it struck three sites used by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, including Kataib Hezbollah, in response to recent attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria. Iranian-backed militia groups have attacked the U.S. more than 150 times since the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October.
U.S. Central Command said the strikes hit the headquarters, storage and training locations for rocket, missile and drone launches used by Kataib Hezbollah.
The strikes hit near two towns close to the capitol of Baghdad, according to Iraq.
The eruption of conflict between the U.S. and Israel and Iran and its proxies across the Middle East has sparked concerns in Iraq that the country will be dragged back into war.
After a U.S. strike killed a senior Iranian-backed militia leader in Baghdad at the beginning of January, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said he is weighing the possibility of removing the U.S. from Iraq over the escalation.
Around 2,500 American troops operate in Iraq, at the invitation of the Iraqi government, to counter the extremist Islamist group ISIS.
Iraq also condemned Iran for a January strike on what it claimed was an Israeli spy base in the Iraqi city of Erbil — but al-Sudani is closely aligned with Iranian-backed militia groups and has reserved most of his ire for Washington.
Rasool, the Iraqi spokesperson, said Wednesday the U.S. is “sliding into condemnable and unjustified aggressive actions against Iraqi territory and national sovereignty.”
“We call on the international community to fulfill its responsibility in supporting peace and security, preventing all violations threatening Iraq’s stability and sovereignty,” Rasool said. “We will treat these operations as acts of aggression and take necessary actions to preserve the lives and dignity of Iraqis on their land that became safe and stable due to the sacrifices of our people.”