Iraq PM received ‘verbal message’ from Iran before missile attack: spokesperson

Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi was informed about Iran’s missile strikes in Iraq before they happened, a spokesperson for his office said on Wednesday.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi was informed about Iran’s missile strikes in Iraq before they happened, a spokesperson for his office said on Wednesday.

Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles at airbases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region that house US and coalition forces early Wednesday in retaliation for the US killing of top Iranian general Qasim Soleimani last week.

Read More: Iran strikes military bases in Iraq, Kurdistan housing US forces: Pentagon

According to an Iraqi military statement, 22 ballistic missiles were launched at the Ain al-Assad air base in the western Anbar province that houses American and coalition troops as well as a base in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil.

The statement said two of the 17 missiles at Ain al-Assad did not detonate. The five missiles launched in Erbil targeted US-led coalition headquarters, it added. Neither attack caused any casualties, the military said.

“Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, we received a verbal message from the Islamic Republic of Iran that the Iranian response to the assassination of the martyr Qasim Soleimani had started or was about to start,” Abdul Mahdi’s spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson added that Iran had informed the Iraqi prime minister that “it would only target locations where US forces were present,” without specifying the locations.

During the attack, Abdul Mahdi had also received a call from the American government, the spokesperson noted.

Iran has warned the US that it would target Washington’s neighboring allies Israel and the United Arab Emirates if an attack on Iranian soil occurs, Iranian media reported.