Iraq on a hot plate: Targeting Green Zone reignites tension

Eslam Mohamed

Iraq is currently living on a hot plate, due to the incident targeting the Green Zone in the capital, Baghdad, which includes the US embassy, with a number of missiles, despite the fact that no party has claimed responsibility, and Iranian militias sought to evade the attack, unlike usual.

On the evening of Sunday, December 20, Iraqi army spokesman Yahya Rasool announced that the Green Zone had been targeted by missile strikes, which resulted in damage to a number of residential buildings and cars. He added in a statement that such criminal acts target the citizens and security, and they seek to diminish the prestige of the state and destabilize the situation in the country.

The incident came about two weeks before the first anniversary of the killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a US air strike near Baghdad airport.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo published a tweet in which he considered that these criminals and corrupt persons should stop their destabilizing activities, while Tehran warned the United States of “creating tension” in the coming period, after Washington accused armed groups backed by Iran of involvement in attack.

In a press conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the nature and timing of the attack, in addition to the statements of the US Secretary of State, raised great doubts.

Khatibzadeh warned Washington not to seek to provoke tension and set fire to the situation, adding, “The attacks against diplomatic and residential headquarters are unacceptable,” expressing his confidence in the Iraqi authorities’ efforts to “identify those responsible” for the attack.

These developments overlap with US General Frank McKenzie’s announcement that his country is “ready to respond” if Iran attacks its interests, saying, “We are ready to defend ourselves and our allies in the region, and we are ready to respond if necessary.”

For his part, a member of the political council of the Iraqi al-Nujaba movement, Haider al-Lami, confirmed that there are parties trying to shuffle the cards in Iraq, accusing the resistance of targeting the US embassy, stating that Washington gave orders to its clients to do so.

The Iranian Mehr News Agency reported that a member of the political council of Harakat al-Nujaba considered that the American embassy in Baghdad was not a diplomatic mission but a military barracks.

The embassy condemned the attack and called on all Iraqi political leaders to take steps to prevent such attacks and hold those responsible accountable.

A spokesman for the Iraqi presidency condemned the attack, and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that the government would not remain silent about such actions, and that the perpetrators were being tracked.

Kadhimi said during a press conference that a number of people suspected of bombing the Green Zone had been arrested, in addition to the arrest of officials of security sector departments, describing the bombing as a cowardly terrorist act.