Ex-PM Sudani condemns strikes and invokes Iraq’s right to self-defense

BAGHDAD — Former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani condemned Wednesday’s U.S.-Saudi airstrikes on Popular Mobilization Forces sites as “a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty” and said Iraq retains the right under the U.N. Charter to answer them.

“We strongly condemn the Saudi-American aggression that targeted Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters in Iraq,” Sudani said in a statement, calling the strikes “a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, a serious breach of the principle of Islamic brotherhood, and a clear violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.”

He said Iraq “reserves all its legitimate rights guaranteed under international law, including Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, to defend its sovereignty, its land and its people,” and that “any infringement on its security and stability cannot be accepted or remain unanswered.”

Sudani said the timing “raises many questions,” because the strikes followed Iraq’s formation of investigative committees into the Saudi claims. That step, he said, showed “the Iraqi state’s commitment to addressing issues through legal and institutional frameworks, not through military escalation.” He said Iraq had, through its official institutions, rejected the use of its territory to attack neighboring countries.

The PMF said the overnight strikes killed 20 of its members and wounded 32 at sites in seven governorates. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called an emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said Monday its forces had intercepted drones that tried to hit petroleum facilities in the Eastern Province and Riyadh, launched from Iraqi territory by what it called terrorist militias affiliated with Iran. Its Foreign Ministry called on Iraq “to prevent its territory from being used as a launch point” against neighboring states. Neither statement named a faction or gave the number of drones. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq denied responsibility and warned Saudi Arabia against military action.

Sudani led the government from 2022 until Zaidi took office in May. The strikes come as Zaidi pursues a plan to bring weapons under state control that has divided the Iran-aligned factions. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Saraya al-Salam and the Imam Ali Battalions have moved to comply; Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada have refused while U.S. forces remain in Iraq.