The growing tension between the United States and her host Iraq continues to grow, as reports on Sunday suggested that the US Embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad was hit by at least three rockets.
An official who spoke to CNN on the incident at the Iraqi capital on Sunday, had said one person was injured in the attack, but that the injury was minor and the individual had since returned to duty.
A State Department spokesperson said Sunday evening that they “are aware of reports of rockets landing in the International Zone,” in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, but did not address the US embassy itself. The State Department did not respond to a query as to whether any embassy employees were injured, the report by CNN added.
“We call on the Government of Iraq to fulfil its obligations to protect our diplomatic facilities in Iraqi capital of Baghdad ,” the spokesperson said.
The State Department did not directly blame Tehran for the rocket strikes in the Iraqi capital, but the spokesperson’s statement made reference to Iranian threats in the region and past attacks by Iranian-backed militias on US interests. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
“The security situation remains tense and Iranian-backed armed groups remain a threat. So, we remain vigilant,” the spokesperson said. Since September there have been more than 14 attacks by Iran and Iranian-supported militias on US personnel in Iraq, according to the State Department.
The spokesperson said the State Department would not comment further on the security situation in Baghdad.
Rep. Michael McCaul, the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a tweet Sunday that he is “closely monitoring reports of a rocket attack targeting the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.”
“Violent acts against our diplomatic facilities are simply unacceptable. We must ensure the safety of American diplomats, troops and other Americans in Iraq.”
Adil Abdul Mahdi, the prime minister of Iraq, condemned the attack and said Iraqi forces have been ordered to “deploy, search, and investigate to prevent the recurrence of such attacks, and to arrest those who launched these rockets so that they can be punished.”
The Prime Minister said the Iraqi government is “committed to protecting all diplomatic missions and taking all necessary measures to achieve this.”
This will not be the first time that rockets will be hitting a U.S base in Iraq since the assassination of Qasem Soleimani by a U.S led airstrike.
Reports a few weeks ago have it that Tehran fired dozens of Ballistic Missiles in the direction of U.S military bases inside Iraq.
According to the report by Associated Press, an Iranian state TV said the Ballistic Missiles fired at the U.S military bases inside Iraq was in revenge for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whose death in an American drone strike near Baghdad prompted angry calls to avenge his slaying.
Soleimani’s killing and the strikes by Iran came as tensions have been rising steadily across the Mideast after Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
They also marked the first time in recent years that Washington and Tehran have attacked each other directly rather than through proxies in the region.
It raised the chances of open conflict erupting between the two enemies, who have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.
Iran initially announced only one strike, but U.S. officials confirmed both.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack against the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s western Anbar province. The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” the Guard said. It also threatened Israel.
No words yet from President Donald Trump on the latest attack, as Iraq push for the exit of American soldiers from Iraq.
The Prime Minister of Iraq, Adel Abdul-Mahdi also told the U.S. secretary of state to the United States, Mike Pompeo to send a delegation to Iraq tasked with formulating the mechanism for the withdrawal of U.S troops from Iraq. This move has since been rejected by Pompeo who believed the move was being sponsored by Iran, as he believes the U.S and Iraq are making good progress at restoring peace to the middle east country.
The Iraqi prime minister said his country rejects all violations against its sovereignty, including the barrage of ballistic missiles that Iranian forces fired targeting against U.S. troops in Iraq and also America’s violation of Iraq’s airspace in the airstrike that killed a top Iranian general last week.
The Iraqi leader asked Pompeo to “send delegates to Iraq to prepare a mechanism to carry out the parliament’s resolution regarding the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq,” the statement said.
“The prime minister said American forces had entered Iraq and drones are flying in its airspace without permission from Iraqi authorities and this was a violation of the bilateral agreements,” the statement added.
Top American military officials including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper have said there were no plans for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq.
Iraqi lawmakers had also passed a non-binding resolution to oust U.S. troops following a strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. But the U.S is not giving in to all their demands, and this could be some of the reasons why rockets are being launched into the directions of the United States inside Iraq.