(Washington) The United States did not notify the Iraqi government in advance of recent strikes against pro-Iranian targets in Iraq, the State Department said Monday, clarifying White House statements suggesting opposite.
“Regarding Friday’s response, we informed the Iraqi government immediately after the strikes took place,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.
However, he added that “the Iraqi government, like all countries in the region, understood that there would be a response after the death of American soldiers.”
The United States carried out strikes in Syria and Iraq on Friday against targets of elite Iranian forces and pro-Iran armed groups, in retaliation for a January 28 attack that killed three American soldiers in Jordan, near the Iraqi and Syrian borders.
Both Iraq and Syria condemned these strikes, with Baghdad denouncing “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty” and submitting a “letter of protest” to the American charge d’affaires in the Iraqi capital.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday evening that Washington had informed Iraqi authorities “before” the strikes, angering Baghdad.
“I responded with the information available to me at the time,” Mr. Kirby defended Monday.
“It was not as accurate as it could have been, and I regret any confusion that may have been created,” he said.
“That being said, we have made no secret – both to Iraqi officials and in public – that we would respond to attacks targeting our troops. And, in fact, we have formally notified Iraq of this, according to the appropriate procedure,” Mr. Kirby added.
Given the extremely sensitive nature of relations between the United States and Iraq at the moment, Washington was obviously keen to make this clarification, ensuring that it had not informed Baghdad of the military operations in advance.
Some 2,500 American soldiers are deployed in Iraq as part of the coalition created in 2014 to fight the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
In a context of strong regional tensions fueled by the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Chia al-Soudani initiated discussions with Washington on the future of the coalition with a view to obtaining a timetable which would allow a gradual withdrawal.
Since mid-October, more than 165 drone strikes and rocket attacks have targeted American positions in Iraq and Syria. Most were claimed by a nebula of pro-Iran armed groups called “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”.