Iraq Hopes to Deter ‘Factions’ Following Arrests in US Embassy Attack

Maj Gen Yahya Rasool (Iraqi Government Media)
Maj Gen Yahya Rasool (Iraqi Government Media)
TT

Iraq Hopes to Deter ‘Factions’ Following Arrests in US Embassy Attack

Maj Gen Yahya Rasool (Iraqi Government Media)
Maj Gen Yahya Rasool (Iraqi Government Media)

Iraqi officials are hopeful that armed faction operations targeting diplomatic missions will decrease or stop after arresting those responsible for the recent attack on the US embassy and a security headquarters in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

In the past week, officials in the White House and the US State Department exerted pressure on Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s government “to take tangible measures to deter the perpetrators of the recent attack on the embassy building.”

Washington reiterated its threat of using the “right to self-defense.”

Rockets and mortar bombs landed inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, the site of government offices and foreign embassies, including the US embassy, at dawn last Friday.

Some of the rockets hit the embassy compound, while several others struck the nearby headquarters of the Iraqi National Security Service, security officials said.

No casualties were reported.

“After intensive technical and intelligence efforts, our security forces have identified the perpetrators,” said Maj. Gen. Yahya Rasool, a military representative for the Iraqi prime minister.

“Unfortunately, the initial information indicated that some of them are affiliated to some security agencies,” he said, without specifying which agencies.

Security forces have arrested “some of them and efforts are underway to reach all those involved in this assault, and justice will be served in accordance with the law,” he said.

Despite repeated attacks on the US embassy and the sites where American forces are stationed in recent years, security forces have struggled to apprehend most of the perpetrators, often hindered by political disagreements.

During a phone call received from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday evening, Al-Sudani emphasized “Iraq's commitment to protecting diplomatic missions and advisors.”

He affirmed “the capability of Iraqi security forces to pursue perpetrators of attacks on diplomatic missions without any external interference,” according to a government statement.

Iraqi security expert Fadel Abu Ragheef did not rule out that the perpetrators responsible for the recent attack are affiliated with other armed factions.

“It is plausible due to the impact of security agency members influenced by the general situation and political polarization,” Abu Ragheef told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The arrest of those involved could contribute to “dissuading armed groups targeting US interests,” but ending the attacks requires a “political framework led by influential political entities,” asserted Abu Ragheef.

It goes without saying that Iraqi forces face a range of battlefield factors hindering the arrest of attack perpetrators, he noted.



Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
TT

Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)

Even before it was signed, the Gaza ceasefire forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a tight spot - between a new US president promising peace and far-right allies who want war to resume. That tension is only likely to increase.
The stakes for Netanyahu are high -- keeping his coalition government on the one hand and on the other, satisfying US President Donald Trump who wants to use the ceasefire momentum to expand Israel's diplomatic ties in the Middle East.
One of Netanyahu's nationalist allies has already quit over the Gaza ceasefire, and another is threatening to follow unless war on Hamas is resumed at an even greater force than that which devastated much of Gaza for 15 months.
The clock is ticking. The first stage of the ceasefire is meant to last six weeks. By day 16 -- Feb. 4 -- Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas are due to start negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire, whose stated aim is to end the war.
Former police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party quit the government on Sunday and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he will stay in government only if war resumes after the first phase until the total defeat of Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
"We must go back in a completely different style. We need to conquer Gaza, instate a military rule there, even if temporarily, to start encouraging (Palestinian) emigration, to start taking territory from our enemies and to win," Smotrich said in an interview with Channel 14 on Sunday.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, however, said on Wednesday he was focused on ensuring the deal moves from the first to second phase, which is expected to include a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
"Netanyahu is pressed between the far-right and Donald Trump," said political analyst Amotz Asa-El, with the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. "Netanyahu's coalition now is fragile and the likelihood that it will fall apart sometime in the course of 2025 is high."
Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Witkoff told Fox News on Wednesday that he will be on the ground overseeing the ceasefire, a signal that he will keep up the pressure he applied during the deal's negotiations.
According to six US, Israeli, Egyptian and other Mideast officials who spoke to Reuters in the run-up to the ceasefire announcement on Jan. 15, Witkoff played a crucial role in getting the deal over the line.
The ceasefire's first phase includes the release of hostages, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces and aid flow into Gaza.
The second phase, if it happens, would include the release of remaining hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. A third phase is expected to start Gaza's reconstruction, overseen by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
One of the most difficult issues involved in negotiating the next phases is post-war Gaza's governance. Israel won't accept Hamas staying in power. Hamas so far has not given ground.
Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday, that Hamas will never govern Gaza and if it reneges on the deal, Washington will support Israel "in doing what it has to do."
On Saturday, after his government signed off on the ceasefire, Netanyahu said Israel had US backing to resume fighting if the second stage talks prove futile, leaving himself some political leeway with Smotrich, for now.
"If we need to go back to the fighting, we will do so in new ways and with great force," Netanyahu said in a video statement.