{"id":16283,"date":"2024-01-17T06:06:29","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T11:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/iranian-strikes-in-iraq-and-pakistan-inflame-regional-tensions\/17\/01\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-01-17T06:06:29","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T11:06:29","slug":"iranian-strikes-in-iraq-and-pakistan-inflame-regional-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/iranian-strikes-in-iraq-and-pakistan-inflame-regional-tensions\/17\/01\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Strikes in Iraq and Pakistan Inflame Regional Tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iran hit its neighbors Pakistan and Iraq with missile strikes on Tuesday, prompting strong denunciations from both countries and raising fears that upheaval in the Middle East could spiral out of control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since the war in Gaza began in October, Iran has used its proxy forces against Israel and its allies. But on Tuesday, it said its latest missile strikes had been in response to terrorist attacks within its borders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The missile strikes, nevertheless, raised tensions in a region where conflict has now touched at least five nations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey are contributing to the escalation of regional tensions \u2014 and it must stop,\u201d the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, after the strike on Iraq. Jake Sullivan, President Biden\u2019s national security adviser, also denounced the strike on Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iraq was the first to report being hit in a strike in the Kurdistan region, which it said killed several people, including an 11-month-old girl. Hours after the Iraqi government recalled its ambassador to Tehran and summoned Iran\u2019s charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires in Baghdad to protest the strike, Pakistan said it, too, had been hit by its neighbor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPakistan strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory, which resulted in death of two innocent children while injuring three girls,\u201d the government said in a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/mofa.gov.pk\/press-releases\/pakistans-strong-condemnation-of-the-unprovoked-violation-of-its-air-space&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1705448630780649&amp;usg=AOvVaw0ymJPiMCaLfzv7xBokC5jH\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a>. \u201cThis violation of Pakistan\u2019s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The missile strike in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state, hit a remote mountainous region on Tuesday. The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/15\/world\/middleeast\/iran-iraq-syria-attack.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">strike in Iraq<\/a>, which has close political and military ties with Iran, hit the Kurdistan capital, Erbil, around midnight Tuesday and involved ballistic missiles and drones. Iraqi government officials said it had killed four civilians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In both cases, Iranian officials said they were going after terrorists they accused of being behind recent attacks on its territory that have badly shaken Iranians. This month, suicide bombers <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/04\/world\/middleeast\/us-isis-iran-general-suleimani.html?searchResultPosition=2\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">killed 84 people<\/a> at a memorial procession for a revered Iranian military leader, and in December, an attack on a police station killed at least 11 officers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Iraqi and Pakistani governments rejected Iran\u2019s justifications.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action,\u201d the Pakistani statement said, describing it as \u201ceven more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iran\u2019s actions came amid widespread fears that the devastating war in Gaza could become a broader and deadlier regional conflict. Already, it has set off a low-level conflict between Iranian proxy forces and the United States and other Western powers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States, Britain and France denounced the Iranian attack in Iraq, which set off sirens at the U.S. Consulate and forced the airport in Erbil to suspend flights.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, Iran has been sending conflicting signals about its general intentions in the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Privately, Iranian officials have been saying they want to avoid a larger conflict. But they have also been making bullish public pronouncements about proxy military forces that the country is propping up in the region and their importance in keeping the pressure on Israel and its allies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Iranian-backed Houthis, operating from Yemen, have been disrupting global shipping by attacking vessels in the Red Sea, while Hezbollah has been launching strikes on northern Israel from Lebanon. Iraqi militias closely linked to Iran have targeted U.S. bases and camps in Iraq and Syria more than 130 times in the past three months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In addition to hitting Pakistan and Iraq, Iran in recent days has also struck Syria. The Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack on the Iranian memorial procession, has a presence in Idlib. So far, there has been no public objection from the Syrian government, which is closely allied with Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The strike in Pakistan was launched by Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country\u2019s semiofficial Tasnim News agency reported, and hit an area where the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack on the police station in Rask, near Iran\u2019s border with Pakistan, is believed to be based.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The missile strike on Iraq drove a wedge \u2014 at least temporarily \u2014 between Baghdad and Tehran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iraq filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council over the Iranian \u201caggression,\u201d the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. And Iraq\u2019s national security adviser, Qassim Al-Araji, called the Iranian explanation of its strikes \u201cbaseless,\u201d using some of the strongest language Baghdad has lobbed against its neighbor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe house that was bombed belonged to a civilian businessman,\u201d said Mr. Al-Araji, who rushed to Erbil from Baghdad a few hours after the bombing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Al-Araji, who is the Iraqi government\u2019s point man on a number of sensitive issues related to Iran, has a long history of working closely with Tehran and is rarely publicly critical. His comments on Tuesday suggested that Baghdad believed it was being undermined by its neighbor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those killed in the strike included Peshraw Dizayee, a Kurdish businessman; his daughter, Zhina; her babysitter, a foreign national; and a visiting business acquaintance, Karam Mikhail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The strike on Erbil may have been an effort to convince Iranians that despite Tehran\u2019s intelligence and security forces\u2019 failure to prevent the attack on the memorial procession, the government was taking steps to punish the perpetrators, analysts said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is not the first time that the Revolutionary Guards have targeted Kurdistan. There were at least two attacks in 2022 and many during Iran\u2019s 2019 protests, which Iranian government leaders said were being encouraged by Iranian dissidents in Kurdistan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the attack this week played into the fraught politics surrounding the Iraqi government\u2019s effort to end the presence of American troops on its territory. They have been in Iraq since 2014, helping the country fight the remnants of the Islamic State and prevent its return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iran also wants the American troops to withdraw because it perceives their presence as a security risk, given the enmity between the Iranian and U.S. governments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iraq has been caught in the middle. The country\u2019s Parliament \u2014 which includes many lawmakers with ties to Iran \u2014 recently voted to have the troops leave. After a U.S. strike killed a leader in an Iranian-linked militia in Baghdad, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that he wanted to begin determining how the troops\u2019 departure should be carried out, and set up a committee to work out the details.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He did not specify a date, but recent New York Times interviews with many of the people involved have suggested that, unlike in the past, when the Iraqi government said it wanted the troops to leave but did little to achieve that end, this time it was serious.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The strike on Tuesday could make the negotiations considerably more difficult.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One constraint in negotiating a departure \u2014 in addition to worries about an Islamic State resurgence \u2014 has been the Kurds, who have a close relationship with the United States and have benefited from the sustained U.S. presence. U.S. troops protected the Kurds in 2014, when Islamic State militants came within a few miles of the Kurdish capital. Kurdish leaders were already reluctant to approve the departure of U.S. troops, but the attack on the capital seemed to deepen that view.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe don\u2019t think that terrorism has ended, and last night\u2019s event is an indication that instability in the region is still very much at stake,\u201d said Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Kurdistan, who sharply condemned the attack on Erbil at a news briefing while attending the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Falih Hassan<!-- --> contributed reporting from Baghdad, and <!-- -->Kamil Kakol<!-- --> from Sulimaniyah, Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/16\/world\/middleeast\/iraq-us-europe-iran-attack-kurdistan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran hit its neighbors Pakistan and Iraq with missile strikes on Tuesday, prompting strong denunciations from both countries and raising fears that<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/iranian-strikes-in-iraq-and-pakistan-inflame-regional-tensions\/17\/01\/2024\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}