Head of Iran’s Quds Force Visited Iraq after Attack on PM

Head of Iran’s Quds Force Esmail Ghaani. (Reuters file photo)
Head of Iran’s Quds Force Esmail Ghaani. (Reuters file photo)
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Head of Iran’s Quds Force Visited Iraq after Attack on PM

Head of Iran’s Quds Force Esmail Ghaani. (Reuters file photo)
Head of Iran’s Quds Force Esmail Ghaani. (Reuters file photo)

Head of Iran’s Quds Force visited Baghdad after the assassination attempt against Iraq’s prime minister, and said Tehran and its allies had nothing to do with the drone attack that lightly injured the Iraqi leader, two Iraqi politicians said Monday.

News of the visit came as an Iraqi army general said the investigation into the drone attack against Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is ongoing but that indications point to Iran-backed factions. The general said Monday the drones used in the attack took off from areas east of the capital where Iran-backed militias have influence.

The drone attack was also similar to ones carried out in the past by Iran-backed factions in Iraq. In September, for example, explosives-laden drones targeted the Erbil international airport in the country’s north, where US-led coalition troops are stationed, the army general told The Associated Press. He commented on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.

The two Shiite politicians requested anonymity because Esmail Ghaani’s visit was not announced publicly. They quoted the Iranian general as saying that Tehran is not opposed to any politician named by the Shiite blocs in the newly elected parliament to become the next prime minister.

The Quds Force is mainly responsible for military and clandestine operations outside the country.

The failed assassination attempt against Kadhimi at his residence has ratcheted up tensions following last month’s parliamentary elections, in which the Iran-backed militias were the biggest losers.

Kadhimi suffered a light cut and appeared in a televised speech soon after the attack on his residence wearing a white shirt and what appeared to be a bandage around his left wrist. Seven of his security guards were wounded in the attack by at least two armed drones.

There was no claim of responsibility but suspicion immediately fell on Iran-backed militias. They had been blamed for previous attacks on the Green Zone, which also houses foreign embassies.

The militia leaders condemned the attack, but most sought to downplay it.

The two Iraqi politicians quoted Ghaani as saying: “Iran has nothing to do with this attack.”

One of the two officials said Ghaani met with Kadhimi on Sunday afternoon in Baghdad.

Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV, which is run by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, said Ghaani also met with Iraqi President Barham Salih and other political figures in the country.

It quoted Ghaani as saying during his visit that “Iraq is in urgent need for calm.” It added that Ghaani also said that any act that threatens Iraq’s security should be avoided.

The drone attack was a dramatic escalation in the already tense situation following the Oct. 10 vote and the surprising results in which Iran-backed militias lost about two-thirds of their seats.

Despite a low turnout, the results confirmed a rising wave of discontent against the militias.

But the militias have lost popularity since 2018, when they made big election gains. Many Iraqis hold them responsible for suppressing the 2019 youth-led anti-government protests, and for undermining state authority.

Some analysts have said that Sunday’s attack aimed to cut off the path that could lead to a second Kadhimi term by those who lost in the recent elections.

On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh condemned the assassination attempt on al-Kadhimi and indirectly blamed the US.

Kadhimi, 54, was Iraq’s former intelligence chief before becoming prime minister in May last year. He is considered by the militias to be close to the US, and has tried to balance between Iraq’s alliances with both the US and Iran.



Israeli Forces Kills over 20 People Seeking Food in Gaza, Witnesses and Health Officials Say

Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Kills over 20 People Seeking Food in Gaza, Witnesses and Health Officials Say

Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinians return with bags, boxes and wooden pallets from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on August 3, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli forces killed at least 23 Palestinians seeking food on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, according to hospital officials and witnesses, who described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged around aid sites as the malnutrition-related death toll surged.

Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts have warned is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive.

Yousef Abed, among the crowds en route to a distribution point, described coming under what he called indiscriminate fire, looking around and seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground.

“I couldn’t stop and help them because of the bullets,” he said.

Southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital said they had received bodies from near multiple distribution sites, including eight from Teina, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) away from a distribution site in Khan Younis, which is operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private US and Israeli-backed contractor that took over aid distribution more than two months ago.

The hospital also received one body from Shakoush, an area hundreds of meters (yards) north of a different GHF site in Rafah. Another nine were also killed by troops near the Morag corridor, who were awaiting trucks entering Gaza through an Israeli border crossing, it said.

Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, seeking food in Teina and Morag, told The Associated Press the shootings occurred on the route to the distribution points, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward the troops.

Further north in central Gaza, hospital officials described a similar episode, with Israeli troops opening fire Sunday morning toward crowds of Palestinians trying to GHF’s fourth and northernmost distribution point.

“Troops were trying to prevent people from advancing. They opened fire and we fled. Some people were shot,” said Hamza Matter, one of the aid seekers.

At least five people were killed and 27 wounded at GHF’s site near Netzarim corridor, Awda Hospital said.

Eyewitnesses seeking food in the strip have reported similar gunfire attacks in recent days near aid distribution sites, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead.

The United Nations reported 859 people have been killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of UN-led food convoys.

The GHF launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the UN-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas, which guarded convoys early in the war, to siphon supplies.

Israel has not offered evidence of widespread theft. The UN has denied it.

GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel’s military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Both claimed the death tolls have been exaggerated

Neither Israel’s military nor GHF immediately responded to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities.

Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry also said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. This brings the death toll among Palestinian adults to 82 in the past five weeks since the ministry started counting deaths among adults in late June, it said.

Ninety-three children have also died of causes related to malnutrition since the war in Gaza started in 2023, the ministry said.

The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, and abducted another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn’t provided its own account of casualties.