Iraq complains to the UN about Israel’s use of its airspace to attack Iran

In the statement made by government spokesman Bassim Alawadi, it was stated that the letter condemned “the Zionist entity’s blatant violation of Iraq’s airspace and sovereignty by using Iraqi airspace to launch an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran on October 26.”

Alawadi said that the Iraqi foreign ministry would bring up “this violation” in its talks with the United States, Israel’s close ally and largest arms provider.

Israel launched airstrikes on military sites in Iran on Saturday, risking further escalation of regional tensions that have been building towards more than a year of war in Gaza and more than a month of Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.

The Israeli raid was in retaliation for Iran’s missile attack on October 1; itself was retaliation for the killing of Iranian-backed militant leaders and the commander of the Revolutionary Guard.

The Iranian military said some Israeli planes fired “a small number of long-range missiles from a distance” into Iraqi airspace patrolled by the United States.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran was “confident that no neighboring country has given the Zionist regime permission to use its airspace.”

“We certainly hope that our friends in Iraq will announce the necessary reactions, including registering their protests with the United Nations, and not allow such incidents to happen again,” Baghaei said. he added.

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Baghdad has close ties with Tehran but also a strategic partnership with Washington, which has troops in Iraq as part of the international anti-jihadist coalition.

As the Iraqi government tries to avoid being dragged into the escalating regional conflict, some pro-Iran groups have launched attacks on US forces in the region and claimed responsibility for drones sent to Israel.

Kataeb Hezbollah, an influential Tehran-linked group, on Sunday condemned Israel’s use of Iraqi airspace to attack Iran as a “dangerous precedent.”

He accused the US of complicity in the Israeli attack and warned both about the response to this “attack”.