Sudani Continues Efforts to Avert Israeli Retaliation against Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)
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Sudani Continues Efforts to Avert Israeli Retaliation against Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Reuters)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has urged Britain, Spain and Switzerland to exert pressure to ease the tensions in the region and help avert an Israeli strike on Iraq as part of its retaliation to Iran’s ballistic missile attack last week and after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a drone strike in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights.

Israel accused Iraqi factions of carrying out the drone attack.

Iraqi factions, which used to boast of their attacks against Israel, denied that they were behind the latest strike.

A source close to the ruling pro-Iran Coordination Framework said it was pressuring the factions against becoming involved in any Iranian-Israeli confrontation.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Framework has tasked Sudani to do what must be done to protect Iraq from an Israeli strike that could go beyond faction headquarters to reach their leaderships or even vital Iraqi facilities.

However, head of the Center for Political Thinking in Iraq Dr. Ihssan Shmary said Baghdad had a valuable opportunity to avert war when it could have turned to politics and diplomacy rather than become embroiled in the larger conflict between Israel and Iran and its regional proxies.

It seems the opportunity has been wasted given that no one has seized any initiative, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He explained that the government acted under pressure from the Coordination Framework, which is an extension of Iran, meaning that Iraq is effectively involved in the conflict.

Moreover, Shmary criticized Iraq for failing to support and join any of the recent Arab initiatives, notably the new global coalition to establish a Palestinian state based on the two-state solution.

Iraq should have been part of the Saudi-led coalition, which is a positive step in the Palestinian cause away from the slogans that are touted by the armed factions, he stressed.

Shmary predicted that Israel will “no doubt” strike Iraq because it views it as part of the “axis of enemies” given that it harbors the pro-Iran armed factions.

Meanwhile, in a statement marking a year since Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel, Sudani noted that the “Zionist aggression continues on Gaza, has extended to brotherly Lebanon and is threatening the entire region.”

He recalled Iraq’s early stance that warned against Israel’s intention to expand the conflict and the consequences of allowing it to get away with its crimes amid the international community’s failure to assume its responsibilities.

He hailed French President Emmanuel Macron’s call on Saturday to stop sending weapons to Israel and to work on ending the war.

Sudani had postponed last week a visit to Britain because of developments in the region and the Israeli escalation in southern Lebanon.

He held a meeting with British Ambassador to Baghdad Stephen Hitchen to set a new date for the visit.

In a statement from his office, Sudani underscored the need for the international community and United Nations Security Council to play their primary role in preserving security and stability, especially as “the Zionist aggression continues in Gaza and Lebanon.”

He accused Israel of committing genocide, stressing that this demands international condemnation.

Sudani also held telephone talks with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez and received new Swiss Ambassador to Iraq Daniel Hunn. He hoped their countries would pressure the European Union to play a role in easing the tensions in the region.



Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli army said two rockets were fired from Syria into open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, marking the first time a strike has been launched toward Israel from Syrian territory since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Syrian state media reported that Israel shelled the western countryside of Syria’s Daraa province after the rocket launch. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, also reported Israeli airstrikes that caused “violent explosions” around the city of Quneitra and in the Daraa countryside.

A group calling itself the Mohammed Deif Brigades — named after a Hamas military leader killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last year — claimed the attack in a post on Telegram. The group first surfaced on social media a few days before.

“Until now, it’s just a Telegram channel. It’s not known if it is a real group,” said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed factions in southern Syria.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel considers “the Syrian president directly responsible for every threat and firing toward the State of Israel” and warned of a “full response” to come “as soon as possible.”

Israel has been suspicious of the former opposition fighters who formed the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since Assad’s fall.

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run TV channel that it has “not yet verified the accuracy” of the reports of strikes launched from Syria toward Israel.

“We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region,” the statement said. It condemned the Israeli shelling, which it said had resulted in “significant human and material losses.”

The US, which has warmed to al-Sharaa's government and recently moved to lift some sanctions previously imposed on Syria, has pushed for Syria to normalize relations with Israel.

In a recent interview with the Jewish Journal, al-Sharaa said he wants to see a return to a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries but stopped short of proposing immediate normalization, saying that “peace must be earned through mutual respect, not fear.”