Politics

Iraqi leaders condemn Iran’s missile attack against US troops in Iraq

Multiple Iraqi leaders, including the nation's president and parliament speaker, have condemned Iran's missile strikes late Tuesday night that targetted airbases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region housing US and coalition forces.

Mustafa Shilani 2020/01/08 15:31

middle east Iraq Iran United States Kurdistan Qasim Soleimani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Multiple Iraqi leaders, including the nation's president and parliament speaker, have condemned Iran's missile strikes late Tuesday night that targetted airbases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region housing US and coalition forces.

Iran launched the attack in retaliation for the US killing of top Iranian general Qasim Soleimani last week.

According to an Iraqi military statement, 22 ballistic missiles were launched at the Ain al-Assad airbase 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.

Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi condemned the strikes in a statement, calling it “a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty” and said that Iraq must not be the site of a proxy war waged by foreign powers.

Barham Salih, Iraq's president, said, “We refuse constant attempts of violating Iraq’s sovereignty and turning it into a battlefield,” adding that “Iraq has always rebuffed to be the cause of unrest to its neighboring countries, and has always supported security and the best interest of the nations in the region.”

“The International Coalition forces' existence in Iraq is within the framework of an agreement with the Iraqi government to fight terrorism, and their presence is a matter related to the Iraqi government and the Iraqi parliament,” he emphasized.

Following the strikes, European countries such as France, Germany, and the UK also condemned the action.

Also on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that his nation's aim was to cause all US forces to withdraw from the region.

“General [Qasim] Soleimani fought heroically against ISIS, Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al,” Rouhani tweeted, claiming that, without Soleimani’s “war on terror, European capitals would be in great danger now.” “Our final answer to his assassination will be to kick all US forces out of the region.”

Editing by John J. Catherine