Iraq implements security precautions, review following Israeli strikes on Iran

Iraq is undertaking a security review and implementing precautionary measures amid Israel’s strikes on Iran and mounting tensions, Iraqi sources said on Friday.

Iraq’s government will start reviewing the security situation in several cities where US-led coalition forces are present, amid concerns over any repercussions or military escalations between Washington and Tehran.

This follows reports that Washington is considering evacuating its embassy staff in Baghdad, amid threats by an Iraqi armed faction who said they would retaliate if Tehran were attacked.

A senior Iraqi security official told The New Arab’s sister publication, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that "directives have been issued to review security and prevent any attempt to drag the country into the current cycle of escalation".

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he added that these included the review of plans for the security of diplomatic missions and camps housing coalition forces.

He added that "no party will be exempt from Iraqi measures if any attempt is made to tamper with the country’s security".

Iraq’s government has yet to issue an official comment on news reports which said the US embassy in Iraq was preparing for an orderly evacuation "due to security risks".

Iraq’s News Agency (INA) quoted a government source as saying: "These steps relate to procedures linked to the US diplomatic presence in a number of Middle Eastern countries, and do not only concern Iraq, as the Iraqi side has not recorded any security indicators that would warrant this evacuation".

The official added that "all security indicators and briefings support the growing assessment of stability and the restoration of internal security in the country," stressing that "all Arab and foreign diplomatic missions operating in Iraq enjoy the widest possible scope of safe operation, freedom of communication and effectiveness in various activities across all parts of Iraq, not just in the capital, Baghdad".

Armed groups vow response 

However, pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq have vowed to issue a stern response to Israeli attacks on Iran.

The leader of Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Abu Alaa al-Walaei, vowed to "set the Middle East on fire" if Iran is attacked.

In a post on X, he wrote: "If war breaks out…America’s pride will be humiliated once again, just as it was the first time when it left Iraq, dragging its tail in disappointment".

"Neither they nor their agents will remain in the Middle East, and regimes that sought protection from the occupation will fall," he added.

The latest developments come after two Israeli missiles fell on the outskirts of southern Iraq’s Dhi Qar governorate and a fuel tank of an Israeli missile also fell in the al-Abayji area of Baghdad.

While sources confirmed that these did not cause any casualties and fell in uninhabited areas, it still sparked alarm in the country.