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.
