The Iraqi government spokesperson says that the US–Saudi airstrikes targeting the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were carried out without Baghdad’s prior knowledge.
“The government had no prior knowledge of the attacks carried out on Iraqi territory,” Haider al-Aboudi told the state-owned Iraqi News Agency (INA) late on Thursday, noting, “The government has not granted any approval to carry out attacks on specific sites or targeted groups within Iraqi territory.”
His remarks came after joint US–Saudi airstrikes targeted PMF headquarters across Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in response to two attacks on a Saudi oil field. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq reiterated in a statement on Wednesday that it had not carried out attacks against Saudi Arabia and warned that it would respond.
Aboudi said that the Iraqi government “formed investigative committees regarding Riyadh’s allegations, and they were not proven,” calling on Riyadh “to share the security information it possesses in order to verify it.”
“The bombardment of seven Iraqi provinces resulted in more than 18 martyrs and 20 wounded from the Popular Mobilization Forces,” he added.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Wednesday that the overnight US–Saudi strikes against Iraq had been “coordinated” with the Iraqi government.
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