BAGHDAD (AP) — Troops deployed around Baghdad on Sunday following the failed assassination attempt with armed drones that targeted the residence of Iraq’s prime minister. The attack significantly ramped up tensions sparked by the refusal of Iran-backed militias to accept last month’s parliamentary election results.
Seven of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s security guards were wounded in the attack by at least two armed drones in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone area, according to two Iraqi officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements.
Al-Kadhimi was unharmed. He later appeared on Iraqi television, seated behind a desk in a white shirt, looking calm and composed. His left hand appeared to be wrapped in a bandage. An aide confirmed a light cut.
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Al-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 U.S., and has tried to balance between Iraq’s alliances with both the U.S. and Iran. Prior to the elections, he hosted several rounds of talks between regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad in a bid to ease regional tensions.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh in a briefing Sunday condemned the assassination attempt on al-Khadimi and indirectly blamed the U.S. He said to be aware of “the conspiracies that target the security and progress of Iraq,” without elaborating.
Khatibzadeh said such incidents “are in the interests of those parties that have invaded the stability, security, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq over the past 18 years.”
The U.S. strongly denounced the attack.
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-religion-iran-elections-iraq-28fe31151ed74ca6f7ef313793765824