Rep. McCaul: Group that claimed it was behind Erbil rocket attack has ties to Iran-backed fighters
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – The senior Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, issued a statement on Wednesday that differed significantly from those the Biden administration has made about Monday’s rocket attack on Erbil.
Above all, McCaul pointed a finger at Iran and its proxies in Iraq, as Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, observed to Kurdistan 24.
“The words Iran and Shiite militia group” have been “absent from the official Biden administration statements,” he complained. “Yet the existing fact pattern in Iraq from May 2019 to the present” shows “Iran and its proxies are the most likely culprits behind rocket and mortar fire at US positions in Iraq.”
“The group that claimed responsibility for this heinous attack” on the Kurdistan Region’s capital “has a history of claiming assaults on coalition targets in Iraq,” McCaul stated, alluding to the group calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam (Guardians of Blood).
“Importantly,” he continued, “this group is widely believed to have ties to Iran-backed fighters in Iraq.”
McCaul urged the Biden administration to hold accountable those behind the assault, “including Iran or Iran-linked entities, if they are found to be responsible,” while he concluded, “I will keep a close eye on any investigation into these brutal attacks.”
McCaul did not go as far as many analysts and journalists in stating that Tehran was, almost certainly, behind the attack, but he did imply it was the leading suspect – which the Biden administration has not done.
US Continues to Wait for Results of Investigation
Rather, the State Department and Pentagon continued to say on Wednesday what they had said in the immediate aftermath of the attack: they do not want to prejudge the results of an investigation that has just begun.
READ MORE: US coordinates with Europe on Erbil attack, awaits results of investigation, before assigning blame
As Department of Defense spokesperson John Kirby reaffirmed to journalists on Wednesday, “There’s an investigation ongoing, and I’m not going to get ahead of that.”
On Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Iraq’s defense and interior ministers and offered American assistance to the Iraqi investigation. Asked if the Iraqis had taken up the defense secretary’s offer, Kirby replied, “I’m not aware of any specific request for support.”
Kirby also said that the rocket attack on Erbil would be discussed further on Thursday, when NATO Defense Ministers met for the second day of a virtual conference, in which operations in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, will be addressed.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also discuss the Erbil attack on Thursday, in a separate conference with foreign ministers from the E-3: France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
“I expect in the context of regional challenges,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, that it will be one of the items they discuss.
Price also noted that the French government has publicly stated its support for the US position of including “broader regional challenges” from Iran on Thursday’s agenda.
Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly