Deputy speaker urges Iraq to take US-Saudi strikes to the UN Security Council

BAGHDAD — First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Adnan Faihan al-Dulaimi called Wednesday for Iraq to lodge a formal complaint at the U.N. Security Council over the U.S.-Saudi airstrikes on Popular Mobilization Forces sites, and said neither government had put evidence for its accusations to Baghdad through legal channels.

Dulaimi said the strikes were “a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, a flagrant assault on its security and stability, and an unacceptable breach of all international laws and norms.” He urged the government to “take a responsible position in defending the sovereignty of our land, airspace and the blood of our people by all means,” to activate all legal and diplomatic avenues, and to file the complaint “to hold the aggressing parties accountable and put a decisive end to the repetition of such dangerous attacks.”

He said Iraq remained committed to its neighbors’ security and to settling disputes diplomatically, and that those accusing Iraq of allowing its territory to be used for attacks had not “until this moment” proved the claims to the Iraqi government “conclusively, with real and clear evidence, and through the recognized legal channels governing relations between states.”

The PMF said the strikes hit its headquarters in Baghdad, Wasit, Nineveh, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala and Diyala, killing at least 20 members and wounding 32 in a preliminary toll. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called an emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security, which the Security Media Cell said would review the security situation and the strikes.

U.S. Central Command said it and Saudi forces struck weapons-storage and logistical sites linked to Iran-backed groups, after more than 30 drone attacks it attributed to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Saudi Arabia said the targets were connected to attacks on its energy facilities, and its Defense Ministry said earlier this week that air defenses had intercepted drones targeting petroleum facilities in the Eastern Province and the Riyadh region which it said were launched from Iraqi territory by Iran-backed militias. It did not name a faction.

Since the regional war began in late February, factions under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella have carried out repeated drone, rocket and missile attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic targets in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, and on civilian sites. Positions linked to the PMF have been struck across several governorates, killing about 100 fighters, in attacks the force attributed to U.S. or Israeli forces.