Deputy speaker calls for urgent parliamentary session over Israeli strikes, airspace violation

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohsen Al-Mandalawi on Sunday called for an urgent parliamentary session to address what he described as a dangerous military escalation and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty following Israeli strikes on Iran.

In a statement from his office, Al-Mandalawi urged the presidency of the Council of Representatives to convene an extraordinary session “dedicated entirely to discussing the consequences of the escalating military tensions in the region, including what he described as a treacherous Zionist aggression that targeted the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran through Iraqi airspace.”

He condemned the use of Iraq’s airspace for the strikes as “a blatant violation of national sovereignty and a direct threat to the security and stability of the country,” warning that such actions “risk dragging Iraq into regional conflicts that do not serve its national interests.”

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry on Friday submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council, denouncing what it described as Israeli violations of Iraqi airspace and calling on the Council “to take legal and moral action” to prevent further incidents. “These practices represent a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” the ministry said.

Also on Friday, supporters of the Popular Mobilization Forces, along with tribal leaders and clerics, staged a protest in Baghdad’s Jadriya district, condemning the Israeli airstrikes and what they said was the use of Iraqi airspace to carry them out.

Statement from the Office of the First Deputy Speaker of the Council of Representatives, Mr. Mohsen Al-Mandalawi:

First Deputy Speaker of the Council of Representatives, Mr. Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, called on the Presidency of the Council to convene an urgent extraordinary session dedicated entirely to discussing the consequences of the escalating military tensions in the region, including what he described as a treacherous Zionist aggression that targeted the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran through Iraqi airspace—a blatant violation of national sovereignty and a direct threat to the security and stability of the country.

In a statement issued Sunday, Al-Mandalawi said this serious transgression cannot be accepted or overlooked. “The breach of Iraqi airspace and its use to carry out hostile attacks against neighboring countries is an extremely dangerous precedent that risks dragging Iraq into regional conflicts that do not serve its national interests and contradict its consistent stance in support of peace and security in the region.”

He reiterated the Council of Representatives’ firm rejection of turning Iraq into an arena for settling scores or a corridor for aggression. “Iraqi sovereignty is not up for negotiation or division, and our national security is above all considerations,” he said, while also expressing full solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of this “criminal aggression,” and extended sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs and innocent victims.

Al-Mandalawi concluded his statement by urging the Iraqi government, as well as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense and other relevant bodies, to intensify diplomatic and legal efforts in response to the official complaint submitted to the UN Security Council against the Zionist entity, in order to uphold the state’s dignity and defend the sanctity of Iraqi airspace and national sovereignty.