Iraq Points to Israeli Strikes on Iranian Air Defenses

Iraqi authorities are investigating strikes on two storage sites held by Iran-backed militias.

According to sources cited by the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the attacks were attributed to Israel. The two sites contained shoulder-fired air defense systems of Chinese origin that had been supplied by Tehran. One source said the armed group that chose the location considered it difficult to reach or detect. The report noted that the suspected attack occurred soon after shipments arrived at both locations. The strikes were said to have taken place last week.

The report did not identify the specific weapon system involved. It offered no evidence for the claims and acknowledged that parts of the account could not be confirmed. Asharq Al-Awsat also pointed to an explosion on October 17 at a base of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella body that includes Iranian-backed militias and operates as an Iraqi government paramilitary force. The PMF described the blast as an accident, and the Iraqi government promised an investigation. The newspaper reported that the blast hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition at a headquarters in Baghdad's East Canal area, injuring five people. An anonymous Iraqi official said authorities were still looking into the circumstances.

Other sources said the mid-October blast followed an incident on October 1, when warehouses linked to Iran-backed groups in and around Baghdad were apparently affected. The report said these included stores of drones meant for suicide attacks and reconnaissance. A security official said Iraqi authorities had not determined the nature of the strikes but had seen evidence pointing to Israel.

Iraqi officials have previously attributed strikes to Israel. Iranian-backed militias blamed Israel for strikes in 2019 and for a strike in Albukamah, Syria, near the Iraqi border. The report also cited unconfirmed accounts of Israeli fighter jets flying through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border with support from midair refuelers.

Iran has armed Iraqi militias for years with missiles and drones capable of threatening Israel. Since the US and Israel began airstrikes in February, Iran has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on the Kurdistan Region using drones and missiles, and Iran and allied militias have mounted 600 attacks across Iraq. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30 under an agreement with Baghdad. Asharq Al-Awsat linked earlier reports of China supplying weapons to Iran with the movement of the same systems to Iraq, but described that connection as unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied those reports on July 28.

A source in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said ruling party leaders had spent weeks predicting that renewed conflict between Washington and Tehran would begin with the destruction of Iraqi factions' capabilities. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a collection of militias that has attacked Israel and the US, published a statement claiming Iraqi airspace was being violated.