AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Iran has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s accusations against Tehran regarding a recent rocket attack on the American embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
At least three Katyusha rockets landed within the highly fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, close to the US diplomatic mission on Sunday night. One of the rockets was, however, diverted by an anti-rocket system set up to defend the embassy.
On Wednesday, Trump warned that he would hold "Iran responsible" in the event of a fatal attack on Americans in Iraq, with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying a day later that the US president's blame game is meant to divert attention from his own failures at home.
Zarif attached to his post Trump’s tweets between 2011 and 2013, in which he had accused then Democrat President Barack Obama of seeking to start a war with Iran prior to the election.
He also published a chart showing that of the 20 days with the most deaths from a catastrophic event in the US over the past century, 17 have occurred this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On December 16, the US reported 3,448 COVID-19 deaths — the most of any day of the outbreak so far. It was more than the 2,977 people killed on 9/11 attacks.
In his tweet, Trump said, “Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday by several rockets. Three rockets failed to launch. Guess where they were from: IRAN. Now we hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq. Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.”
It followed a similar tweet by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which he had pinned the blame on Iran for the rocket strike.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Pompeo’s “irresponsible” remarks are aimed at stoking tensions, adding that Washington’s military presence is the “source of instability” in the region.
The US embassy in Iraq has been targeted several times this year, amid heightened anti-American sentiments in the Arab country in the aftermath of the US assassination of Iran’s anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in Baghdad on January 3.
Just two days after the assassination, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously passed a bill mandating the expulsion of all foreign troops from the country.
Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to avenge the targeted killings, but denied any role in the growing rocket attacks on foreign missions.
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