Iraq is increasingly caught between the US and Iran as the regional war escalates, deepening economic woes.
Air strikes have targeted the headquarters of the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, as the country becomes a two-way battlefield between armed factions and the United States during its war with Iran.
The US carried out strikes against the Shia paramilitary umbrella group, also known locally as Hashed al-Shaabi, late on Sunday after attacks on a US diplomatic and logistics centre at Baghdad International Airport.
“Units of the PMF were targeted by drone strikes and airstrikes, with three strikes in different locations,” a statement from a local emergency crisis cell said, adding that there were no casualties because the positions were deserted.
The attack was carried out after Iraqi security officials said four explosions were heard near Camp Victory, a US logistics centre at the capital’s main airport. Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Baghdad, said some drones “breached air defences and caused damage, more symbolic damage than anything else”.
“At the same time, Iraqi security forces have set up checkpoints around Baghdad to try and stop these drone strikes because some of these factions are launching drones from the vicinity of Baghdad,” he said.
Baig added that such attacks put local authorities “in a very difficult position, trying to balance the relationship with the US and these very powerful armed groups”.
Nicolas Haque, also reporting from Iraq’s capital, said Iraqis don’t want to be dragged into the war with Iran, which began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched joint air strikes.
“They’re caught between Iran, a country they share their largest land border with, and the US,” he said. “So they are in a tough and difficult position with having so many Iran-backed [armed groups] inside the country and seeing this escalation of violence.”
Economic worries also are weighing heavily after Iraq’s Ministry of Oil last week announced a case of force majeure on all oilfields developed by foreign oil companies, citing disruptions to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which have halted most of the country’s crude exports.
Force majeure is an unforeseeable event that prevents a contract from being fulfilled. In this case, the Iraqi government has ordered a shutdown in oil production and no compensation to be paid to the foreign firms under their contracts.
“Iraq relies on that revenue,” Haque said. “That’s 90 percent of its revenues, so that’s going to have an impact on people.”
“So they feel very vulnerable, caught in this war between the US, Israel and Iran,” he added.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to attack Iran’s power plants if freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz was not fully restored in 48 hours. On Monday, hours before his deadline was to expire, Trump ordered the US military to postpone strikes against the power plants for five days.
The PMF is part of Iraq’s regular armed forces and includes some pro-Iranian groups. Pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region while strikes have also targeted these groups.
The umbrella group was formed in 2014 to fight ISIL (ISIS), when Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani issued a fatwa urging Muslims to take up arms to defend Iraq. Since then, the PMF has come under the authority of the Iraqi military and receives state funding.
Over the weekend, a drone strike on the headquarters of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in the heart of Baghdad killed one police officer.
The building housed an Iraqi security agency that works with US advisers in Iraq on security matters.
Overnight from Friday to Saturday, at least three drone attacks targeted the Camp Victory logistics hub at Baghdad’s airport.
The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that combat helicopters had carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the latest conflict with Iran.