Rome: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday air strikes on pro-Iran fighters in Iraq and Syria sent a “strong message” not to keep attacking US forces, while Baghdad condemned the overnight aerial assault.
The second such deadly raid on pro-Iran targets since US President Joe Biden took office, described by the Pentagon as “retaliatory”, has sparked fears of a new US-Iran escalation amid faltering efforts to revive a multilateral deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“This action in self-defence… sends a very important and strong message,” Blinken told reporters on a visit to Rome.
“I would hope that the message sent by the strikes last night will be heard and deter future action,” he added, referring to repeated attacks against US interests in Iraq that Washington blames on pro-Iran groups.
But Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi condemned the US strikes as a “blatant and unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty and Iraqi national security”.
“Iraq reiterates its refusal to be an arena for settling scores,” Kadhemi added in a statement, urging all sides to avoid any further escalation.