Iraq strikes: officials point to Israeli role in hits on Iranian-linked depots

Iraqi authorities believe Israel carried out strikes on two storage sites used by Iran-backed militias to hold shoulder-fired air defense systems of Chinese origin, sources told the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat in a report published Saturday. The weapons were supplied by Tehran. The newspaper did not identify which specific system was involved, and said it could not independently verify parts of the account. The strikes took place last week.

One source said the armed group that selected the storage location had considered the site difficult to reach or detect. The same source said the suspected attack came shortly after shipments arrived at both sites.

Asharq Al-Awsat also referenced an October 17 explosion at a base of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella body of Iranian-backed militias that also operates as an Iraqi government paramilitary force. The PMF called the blast an accident, and the Iraqi government pledged an investigation. The newspaper reported the blast struck a stockpile of obsolete ammunition at a headquarters in Baghdad's East Canal area and injured five people. An anonymous Iraqi official said authorities were still examining the circumstances, and the newspaper noted that more than a week had passed without a follow-up update.

Other sources described the mid-October blast as following an October 1 incident that apparently affected warehouses linked to Iran-backed groups in and around Baghdad. Those sites reportedly held drones intended for suicide attacks and for reconnaissance. A security official said Iraqi authorities had not determined the nature of the strikes but had gathered enough evidence to conclude Israel was responsible.

Iraqi officials have previously attributed attacks to Israel. Iranian-backed militias blamed Israel for strikes in 2019 and for a strike in Albukamah, Syria, near the Iraqi border. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had established a secret airstrip in Iraq during its campaign against Iran. Asharq Al-Awsat also cited conflicting, unconfirmed accounts of Israeli fighter jets flying through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border with the support of midair refuelers.

Iran has armed Iraqi militias for years, including with missiles and drones capable of reaching Israel, and those groups carried out numerous attacks on Israel after Hamas began its war on October 7, 2023. Since US and Israel airstrikes started in February, Iran has worked to turn Iraq into a frontline. Iran has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on the Kurdistan Region using drones and missiles, and Iran and allied militias have mounted 600 attacks across Iraq, some aimed at US diplomatic sites. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, a deadline agreed with Baghdad over previous years, and has warned Americans against traveling to Baghdad.

The newspaper appeared to connect earlier reports of Chinese weapons supplies to Iran with the transfer of the same systems into Iraq, though it described that connection as unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied those reports on July 28. Separately, an Iran-backed drone attack struck Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, reportedly launched from Iraq's Maysan province near the Iranian border. That crossing has since closed amid US pressure and Iraqi concerns over trafficking.

Asharq Al-Awsat characterized the strikes as the opening of a new round of conflict, though the incidents date to early and mid-October. A source in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said ruling party leaders had spent weeks predicting that renewed war between Washington and Tehran would begin with the total destruction of the Iraqi factions' capabilities. Most of the major groups in the PMF, aside from the Badr Organization, have been sanctioned by the US as terrorist organizations. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a collection of militias that has attacked Israel and the US, published a statement claiming Iraqi airspace was being violated.