Kamal Ghorui
After issuing a strong warning that it would target American oil and military facilities in the region, Iran struck the United States embassy in neighbouring Iraq, escalating tensions in the Middle East conflict.The embassy compound in Baghdad was targeted by Iranian drones, according to multiple videos shared on social media. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from the complex after the strikes reportedly hit the helipad of the fortified US mission.Iraq, which has long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, was quickly drawn deeper into the wider Middle East war triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
A cloud of black smoke rose above the US diplomatic mission shortly after explosions were heard on Saturday morning, an AFP journalist reported.Two security officials told AFP that the embassy complex was struck in the attack, though the exact cause remained unclear. One source said a drone had hit the embassy, while another said a projectile, believed to be a rocket, had fallen on the diplomatic complex.Another security source said “a projectile, believed to be a rocket, had fallen near the embassy’s airbase.”The US embassy did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment on the incident.It is the second time the US embassy in Baghdad has come under attack since the start of the war.Several Tehran-backed armed groups, which Washington has designated as “terrorist organisations”, and which operate under an umbrella movement known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have claimed responsibility for daily drone and rocket attacks against US bases in the region.Since the start of the war, several attacks targeting members of those groups across Iraq have been blamed on the United States and Israel.Saturday’s attack came shortly after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah and killed two of its members, including a “key figure”, according to security sources.AFP journalists heard explosions in the Iraqi capital followed by ambulance sirens, while witnesses reported seeing smoke rising from the Arasat neighbourhood, where several Iran-backed groups are believed to have a presence.“At 02:15 am (2315 GMT Friday), a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah,” a security source said, adding that “a key figure was martyred,” and two members of the group were wounded.Two hours later, an airstrike hit a vehicle in eastern Baghdad, killing “a member of the Hashed al-Shaabi,” another security source said.A Hashed al-Shaabi official told AFP that the person killed belonged to Kataeb Hezbollah.The Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), is a former paramilitary group that has since been integrated into Iraq’s regular armed forces.The force also includes brigades from Iran-backed groups, including Kataeb Hezbollah.None of the sources said who was believed to be behind the strikes, and the Kataeb Hezbollah group has not commented on the incident.
