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In conversations with his Iraqi counterpart, Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif suggests that rocket attacks on US positions in Iraq could be aimed at damaging ties with neighbors.
Tehran, Iran Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said recent rocket attacks on US positions in Iraq are “suspicious” and the perpetrators must be identified.
Following a meeting in Tehran with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, Zarif said on Saturday that the series of attacks could be aimed at damaging relations between Iran and Iraq.
“We emphasize the need for the Iraqi government to act to identify the perpetrators of these incidents,” Zarif said, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
For his part, Hussein assured Zarif that “Baghdad will not allow these incidents to tarnish the great relations between the two countries,” he added.
A rocket barrage on Monday targeted the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US and other embassies are located.
It came days after rockets landed at the airport near the northern city of Erbil, killing a contractor for the US-led military coalition and wounding several more.
The United States blamed the attacks on pro-Iran factions operating under the umbrella of Hashd al-Shaabi’s paramilitary forces that are part of the Iraqi state security apparatus.
In retaliation, the United States on Thursday launched airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq that are used by Iranian-backed militias.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said the militia’s border posts were destroyed in the attacks and reported at least 22 deaths. The death toll could not be independently verified.
US President Joe Biden said the attacks, his first military action since taking office about a month ago, were aimed at showing Iran that it “cannot act with impunity.”
The Iranian government has denied any involvement.
During his talks with Hussein, Zarif condemned the US attacks as “illegal” and a violation of the sovereignty of Iraq and Syria.
With a report by Maziar Motamedi
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