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US Says Supports Iraq, Other Middle East Partners after Iran Attack

US National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, January 13, 2022. (Reuters)
US National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, January 13, 2022. (Reuters)
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US Says Supports Iraq, Other Middle East Partners after Iran Attack

US National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, January 13, 2022. (Reuters)
US National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, January 13, 2022. (Reuters)

The United States condemned on Sunday an Iranian attack on Iraq's northern city of Erbil and backs Baghdad and governments across the region in the face of threats from Tehran, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

"We will support the Government of Iraq in holding Iran accountable, and we will support our partners throughout the Middle East in confronting similar threats from Iran," he said in a statement released by the White House.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for a dozen ballistic missiles that struck Erbil in the early hours of Sunday.

It claimed the attack was directed against Israeli "strategic centers". This came after Israel killed two Iranian members of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria last week.

The Iraqi government said Baghdad has requested via diplomatic channels a "frank and clear" explanation from Iran regarding the attack.

Iraq "awaits a stance from the Iranian political leadership that rejects aggression," the Ministerial Council for National Security said after a meeting to discuss the attack launched from Iranian territory.

US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price said in a statement: "The strikes were an outrageous violation of Iraq’s sovereignty."

"Iran must immediately cease its attacks, respect Iraqi sovereignty, and halt its interference in Iraq’s internal affairs," he stressed.

"The United States stands with our Iraqi partners, including in the Kurdistan Region, and will help our partners in the region defend themselves."

"No US facilities were damaged or personnel injured, and we have no indications the attack was directed at the United States," he added.

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Palestinians Receptive to Lebanon’s Call to Limit Possession of Weapons in Refugee Camps

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
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Palestinians Receptive to Lebanon’s Call to Limit Possession of Weapons in Refugee Camps

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)

Lebanon has started to exert serious efforts to restrict the possession of weapons inside Palestinian refugee camps in the country in line with President Joseph Aoun’s inaugural speech.

The president had demanded that the possession of weapons in the country and the camps be limited to the state.

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee met at the government headquarters in Beirut three days ago to discuss the issue.

All Palestinian factions attended the meeting, and the gatherers agreed to “completely” resolve the Palestinian possession of arms outside the camps. They also agreed to outline how to restrict weapons inside the camps in line with the president’s speech.

The Lebanese state has yet to come up with the mechanism to confiscate the weapons inside the camps.

A Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the arms will be tackled through a political approach drawn up by the government. “It will be carried out by the army with the security agencies and in coordination with the Palestinian factions in the camp, led by the Fatah movement, which is the official representative of the Palestinian people,” it added.

The Palestinians have expressed their “complete understanding” of the issue, it remarked.

The laying down of weapons by Palestinian factions is a step towards all illegal weapons throughout the country being turned over to the Lebanese state, it went on to say.

“There are no longer any excuses for weapons to remain in possession of any organization,” stressed the source.

Lebanese groups will be demanded to lay down their arms after the Palestinian ones do, it added.

In a first, the Palestinian factions have been very receptive to a Lebanese head of state’s demand to cooperate in limiting the possession of weapons in the refugee camps.

Member of the Palestinian National and Central Councils Haitham Zaiter said that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) recognizes that the camps are part of Lebanese territories, so they come under the authority of the state and its laws.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that “complete coordination” is ongoing between the Lebanese security agencies and PLO inside the camps where several wanted Lebanese and Palestinian suspects and others from other nationalities have been turned over to the authorities.

The suspects had sought refuge in the camps to avoid justice in the crimes they have committed, he acknowledged.

“The PLO is the sole representative of the Palestinian people inside Palestine and in the diaspora,” he stated.

Moreover, Zaiter explained that Palestinian weapons in Lebanon are either carried by the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) outside the camps or by non-partisan individuals inside the camps.

The PFLP-GC laid down its weapons as soon as the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed in December.

Heavy weapons inside the camps had been previously brought in with the aim to undermine the PLO, he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “has constantly called for coordination with Lebanese authorities to limit the possession of these weapons,” Zaiter said.