Iraqi Protesters Attack US Embassy in Baghdad, Embassy Issues Security Alert
Security Alert – U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq
The U.S. Embassy continues to advise U.S. citizens not to approach the Embassy. U.S. citizens should keep in touch with family members
VOA Jeff Seldin
Security forces at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad fired tear gas Tuesday in response to protesters who breached the outer edge of the compound as they rallied in condemnation of U.S. airstrikes targeting an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq and Syria.
Some of the thousands of protesters set small fires, threw stones and waved flags in support of militia groups.
The State Department says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and President Barham Salih to discuss the developments.
“The secretary made clear the United States will protect and defend its people, who are there to support a sovereign and independent Iraq. Both Abdul-Mahdi and Salih assured the secretary that they took seriously their responsibility for and would guarantee the safety and security of U.S. personnel and property,” a statement from State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.
President Donald Trump put the blame on Iran for the breaching of the U.S. Embassy compound.
“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!, Trump said on Twitter Tuesday.
The U.S. airstrikes targeting Kataeb Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and command and control locations across Iraq and eastern Syria killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more.
U.S. officials said the strikes – which were condemned by top Iraqi officials — were in response to a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base on Friday that killed a U.S. defense contractor. U.S. officials said the evidence left no doubt Kataeb Hezbollah was responsible.
On Monday, Iraq’s prime minister said the U.S. actions were unacceptable and “will have dangerous consequences.”
A statement from the Iraqi government further chastised the United States, describing the strikes as a “flagrant violation” of Iraq’s sovereignty, as well as of the rules governing the “goals and principles” of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq to fight and defeat the Islamic State terror group.
U.S. officials brushed aside such criticism and instead placed blame on Iraq for allowing Iranian proxies to operate at will inside their country despite 11 such attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in the past two months.
“We have warned the Iraqi government many times, and we’ve shared information with them to try to work with them to try to carry out their responsibility to protect us as their invited guests,” a second senior U.S. official said. “They have not taken the appropriate steps.”
The U.S. official also criticized Iraqi officials for failing to come down harder on Kataeb Hezbollah’s activities, whether they involve sending militia forces into Syria to fight on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or targeting Iraqi protesters.
“It’s moments like this when you see people’s true colors,” he said.
Kataeb Hezbollah, part of the state-sanctioned militias operating in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), has denied responsibility for the Friday attack that killed the U.S. contractor. But it warned a response would be forthcoming.
Iran’s foreign minister Monday also condemned the airstrikes, calling them an “obvious case of terrorism.”
Since May, the United States has sent an additional 14,000 forces to the Middle East, along with air and missile defense systems and additional reconnaissance capabilities, in response to what officials see as a growing threat from Iran and its proxies.
Officials said Monday that despite the buildup, the increased threat has yet to diminish.
U.S. officials also warned they planned to hit Iran with additional economic sanctions in the coming year, saying, “Iran’s economic problems and challenges are going to compound in 2020,” an official said.
FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT Briefing on U.S. Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria
I think it’s essential to understand that the strikes that the President ordered yesterday, those are – it was a defensive action designed to protect American forces and American citizens in Iraq, but it is also aimed at deterring Iran.
It is clear that under the nuclear deal, Iran was able to run and finance an expansionist foreign policy, and we are trying to restore deterrence against Iran’s regional aggression, against its missile proliferation around the region that finds its way into conflicts, as we have seen recently in Iraq. In the past two months alone, there have been 11 attacks on Iraqi bases that host coalition forces. And then the most recent attack, which was a barrage of rockets on the base near Kirkuk, killed one U.S. citizen and injured American and Iraqi soldiers.
So President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have been making clear for some time now that we will not tolerate this sort of behavior, not tolerate attacks on U.S. citizens, its military, or our allies. And it was just a few weeks ago that Secretary Pompeo, on December 13th, said – he reminded “Iran’s leaders that any attacks by them, or their proxies… that harm Americans, our allies, or our interests will be answered with a decisive U.S. response.” That was delivered yesterday. And it shows that the President has done a very good job of balancing and calibrating our diplomatic efforts in terms of our foreign policy in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and also backing that up with the hard power.
And we are not looking for any conflict in the Middle East. These were defensive strikes. But we are not going to let Iran get away with using a proxy force to an attack – to attack American interests, and we will hold Iran accountable for these attacks, which we have done.
We are standing with the Iraqi people. You’ve seen the protests in Iraq. They are tired of the corruption from the political class. You have Iraqi soldiers and American soldiers who have fought and died for a sovereign and independent Iraq, and the Iraqi protesters are demanding it. And that’s why we support their demands. They do not want to see Iraq fall under the domination or the influence of the ayatollah and his cronies, Qasem Soleimani and others.
What we are also seeing regionally – the protests in Iran, the protests in Iraq, and the protests in Lebanon are a consistent rejection of the Iranian model of undermining sovereignty, endemic corruption, weaponizing sectarian grievances, and destabilizing the region broadly. And so – since May of 2018, I would refer you to Secretary Pompeo’s speech in May of 2018. He also said that all Iranian-commanded forces must leave Syria. And it’s important to recognize that the strikes were conducted not only in Iraq but also in Syria, and I’d like to have [Senior State Department Official Two] speak a little bit about that.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Sure. As [Senior State Department Official One] just said, it’s been longstanding U.S. policy, reiterated by the President to Congress, Mike Pompeo, and the rest of us many times publicly, that all Iranian-commanded forces – which would include, in our view, KH – leave Syria. They are a threat to our interests and to those of many of our partners and allies in the region.
Secondly, we have seen attacks by Iranian-supported or Assad-supported elements against American or coalition forces or our partners on the battlefield, the SDF, repeatedly since 2017 inside Syria. Finally, we do see threat streams and threatening activities by all of these forces that are of concern to us from a force protection standpoint.
But lastly, again, as [Senior State Department Official One] indicated, this shows that we can respond not just in Iraq, but we can respond anywhere that we think it makes sense to us and to the interests and security of our partners and allies in dealing with this threat to the region.
Thank you.