In talks with Iraqi supporter, Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif suggests that rocket attacks against U.S. positions in Iraq could be aimed at damaging neighbors’ ties.
Tehran, Iran – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that recent rocket attacks against US positions in Iraq are “suspicious” and the manufacturers must be identified.
After a meeting in Tehran with his Iraqi group Fuad Hussein, Zarif said on Saturday that the series of attacks could be aimed at damaging Iran-Iraqi relations.
“We stress the importance of action by the Iraqi government to identify the perpetrators of such incidents,” Zarif said, according to a statement by Iran’s foreign ministry.
For his part, Hussein assured Zarif “that Baghdad will not allow these events to damage bad relations between the two countries,” he said.
A volley of rockets on Monday was aimed at the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the U.S. and other embassies are based.
It came days after rockets hit the airport near the northern city of Erbil, killing a contractor with the U.S.-led military coalition and injuring several others.
The U.S. has blamed the attacks on pro-Iranian groups operating under the shadow of Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces that are part of Iraq’s state security apparatus.
In retaliation, the U.S. on Thursday launched airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq occupied by Iranian-backed militias.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war analyst, said militant border posts were destroyed in the attacks and reported at least 22 deaths. The death toll could not be determined independently.
US President Joe Biden said the attacks – his first military act since taking office about a month ago – were to show Iran “they can’t be unstoppable”.
The Iranian government has refused to take any part.
During his talks with Hussein, Zarif condemned the US attacks as “illegal” and a violation of Iraqi and Syrian sovereignty.
To be recited by Maziar Motamedi