The Biden administration has sent conflicting messages about whether the Iraqi government was forewarned about Friday's U.S. retaliatory strikes against Iranian terror proxies in the country.
The United States on Friday carried out a series of attacks against Iranian militant proxies in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Iranian militant incursions in the Middle East region that recently resulted in the deaths of three American service members. The United States and its Western allies are embroiled in an escalating conflict with Iranian-backed proxies in the Middle East as the war between Israel and Hamas continues in the Gaza Strip. (Related: Why on earth did Biden give Iranian proxies so much time to prepare for our retaliatory strikes?)
White House National Security Council Press Secretary John Kirby Said At a press conference after Friday's attack, the Biden administration said it “notified the Iraqi government before the attack took place.”
However, State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel said: meanwhile In a press conference Monday, the United States said it did not notify the Iraqi government of the attack until it occurred on Friday.
“Iraq, like other countries in the region, understood that there would be some kind of response following the death of a soldier,” Patel said at a news conference. “There was no advance notice of Friday's specific response, and the Iraqi people were notified immediately after the attack occurred.”
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A senior government official said the Iraqi government was not given “significant attention” but “to say it was uninformed is not accurate,” NBC News report Saturday. The Iraqi government claimed there was no advance notice and blamed the airstrike for killing civilians and damaging infrastructure.
“Iraq likewise further emphasized its refusal to be the basis for a settlement between adversaries, as our country is not the place for messages and displays of force between adversaries,” the Iraqi government said. statement on sunday.
Already five days have passed since a drone strike in Jordan killed three service members, some lawmakers and defense experts say the Biden administration is bracing Iranian-backed militias for U.S. retaliatory strikes. I feel like I gave them too much time. A U.S. official said some Iranian-backed groups had already moved much of their operations from facilities in Iraq and Syria ahead of the attack.
The White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.
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