Two Rockets Hit Baghdad’s Fortified Green Zone

Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (Reuters)
Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (Reuters)
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Two Rockets Hit Baghdad’s Fortified Green Zone

Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (Reuters)
Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (Reuters)

Two Katyusha rockets hit Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, Iraq's state news agency reported early on Sunday citing security forces.

One rocket was destroyed in the air by the C-RAM defense system and the other landed near the zone's festivals arena damaging two cars, the report added.

Security forces started an investigation to detect the launch site, the agency reported.

A US military official told Reuters that the C-RAM system brought down one of the rounds and none of them landed on the US embassy. The official said there were no American casualties.

The Green Zone hosts foreign embassies, including the US embassy, and government buildings and is regularly the target of rockets fired by groups that US and Iraqi officials say are backed by Iran.

US officials have said Iranian-backed militia could increase attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria in coming weeks, in part to mark the anniversary of the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The two were killed by a US drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 2, 2020.



Jordan’s FM Slams Israel for Pushing Middle East to ‘Abyss of Regional War’

A handout photo released by the Lebanese Government Press office shows Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meeting with Jordan's Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi (L) in Beirut on October 7, 2024. (Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
A handout photo released by the Lebanese Government Press office shows Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meeting with Jordan's Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi (L) in Beirut on October 7, 2024. (Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
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Jordan’s FM Slams Israel for Pushing Middle East to ‘Abyss of Regional War’

A handout photo released by the Lebanese Government Press office shows Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meeting with Jordan's Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi (L) in Beirut on October 7, 2024. (Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
A handout photo released by the Lebanese Government Press office shows Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meeting with Jordan's Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi (L) in Beirut on October 7, 2024. (Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)

Jordan’s top diplomat on Monday slammed Israel’s war with the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, saying it is pushing the Middle East into the “abyss of full-scale regional war.”

“We are facing a disaster and a dangerous escalation that threatens the region,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. “Israel bears responsibility of this aggression, the escalation in the region, and any new escalation that the region faces.”

He spoke in a news conference following a meeting with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut.

Safadi said that Jordan backs the Lebanese government’s initiative to elect a new president and commitment to implement the UN Security Council resolution that ended Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006, and that would keep southern Lebanon exclusively under the control of the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers.

He added that Jordan, like Lebanon, backed an initiative by the United States and France for a three-week ceasefire in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, as the region braces for an Israeli retaliation for Iran's missile attack, Safadi said Jordan rejects either country using its airspace in their tit-for-tat hostilities.

“We will not be a battlefield for anyone,” he said. “We made this message clear to Iran and to Israel as well.”