Iraq reportedly believes Israel struck Iranian weapons bound for militias
Iraqi officials suspect Israel was responsible for recent airstrikes on Iranian-backed militia sites storing air defense systems. While the Popular Mobilization Forces initially claimed the explosions were accidental, reports suggest a targeted operation against weapon shipments.
Why it matters
The incident highlights ongoing regional tensions and the potential for escalation in the proxy conflict between Israel and Iranian-backed groups in Iraq.
Iraq believes that Israel was behind recent strikes on two sites where Iran-backed militias had stockpiled “Chinese-made shoulder-fired air defense systems” sourced from Tehran, sources told London-based Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.It was unclear which specific type of system the report referred to. One source told the newspaper that “the armed group that identified this location for storing air defense systems believed it was extremely difficult to access or detect…the suspected attack occurred shortly after the shipments arrived at the two storage sites.”The report, which said the strikes occurred last week, did not provide evidence for the claims and noted that parts of the claims could not be confirmed.Asharq Al-Awsat added that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group that contains numerous Iranian-backed militias and is also an Iraqi government paramilitary force, had said one of their bases suffered an explosion on October 17.However, the PMF claimed…
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