Baghdad [Iraq] / Tehran [Iran], July 30: Iraq's presidency on Wednesday denounced US-Saudi airstrikes carried out against Iranian-backed militias on Iraqi soil, describing them as an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of the country's sovereignty.
In a statement posted on X, the presidential office said the bombings also targeted official Iraqi security institutions and breached international law.
"Iraq rejects any attack on its territory," the statement said, adding that the country must not be used either as a launch pad or a battleground for attacks on neighbouring states or for the settlement of regional and international conflicts.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi ordered an emergency meeting of his National Security Council following joint US-Saudi airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militias in the country, the state news agency INA reported.
The meeting in Baghdad was to focus on the security situation and the overnight strikes.
The US military said it had carried out precision strikes alongside Saudi forces against several logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of mostly Shiite militias aligned with Iran and also known as Hashd Shaabi, said at least 20 of its fighters were killed and 32 others wounded.
The PMF said the strikes targeted its headquarters and facilities in the provinces of Baghdad, Wasit, Nineveh, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala and Diyala, causing extensive material damage. It added that the death toll could rise as search and verification operations continued.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes were carried out in response to more than 30 drone attacks over the previous 72 hours that it said had been directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Saudi Arabia confirmed the strikes, saying they were conducted in self-defence after earlier attacks on the kingdom's oil facilities that Riyadh blamed on Iranian-aligned Iraqi militias.
Tehran condemned US-Saudi strikes on seven areas in Iraq, calling it "clear aggression against the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq".
The deadly attacks "are a gross violation" of international law and are "in line with the aspirations of the United States and the Zionist regime to expand the scope of war", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Source: Qatar Tribune
