The idea that Iraqi territory could be used for a major attack Israel “caused a lot of noise and resentment in Iraq,” says researcher.
By World Israel News Staff
Iraqi officials are “highly concerned” about Israel potentially striking the country, after reports indicated that Jerusalem would no longer tolerate ongoing explosive drone launches from Iraqi territory.
Since October 7th, Shia militias in Iraq, funded by Iran, have fired hundreds of drones at Israel, with some striking the Golan Heights and Jordan Valley regions, along with the southern port city of Eilat.
Several of those impacts have killed Israeli soldiers stationed near the northern Lebanon border.
While Israel has so far refrained from launching retaliatory strikes on Iraq, a recent report indicating that Iran may use its Iraqi proxies as part of a widespread attack against Israel has raised fears in the country.
“Everyone is terribly afraid of an Israeli response will come against Iraq,” Dr. Ronen Zeidel, an expert on modern Iraq and researchers at Tel Aviv Univeristy, told Hebrew-language outlet Ma’ariv.
When international media reports suggested that Iran was gearing up to launch ballistic and cruise missiles stored on Iraqi territory, pressure for local militias to step back from the conflict increased.
The idea that Iraqi territory could be used for a major attack Israel “caused a lot of noise and resentment in Iraq, along with strong pressure” on the proxy groups not to cooperate with Iran, Zeidel said.
Iraqi officials told the Iranians that they should “not even think” about leveraging Iraqi territory for the attack on Israel, the professor said.
“The Iraqis were very stressed about this matter. They told the Iranians, ‘Listen, do whatever you want from Iranian territory.’ It seems that the possibility of Iranian military activity from Iraqi territory has been dropped from the agenda for now.”
According to Zeidel, American pressure has also been effective at reining n the Iraqi militias.
Washington reportedly told the groups that should they participate in a large-scale Iranian attack against Israel, the U.S. would be unable to stop a severe response from Israel.
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