“The Embassy and Consulate General remain open and operating. We remain strongly committed to advancing our policy priorities in Iraq, strengthening Iraq’s sovereignty, and engaging with Iraqi leaders and the Iraqi people,” a US Embassy spokesperson said.
Israel conducted what it called a “preemptive strike” targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and senior military commanders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation, dubbed Rising Lion, aimed to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival,” and warned that it could continue for days.
Iran responded with a counter-strike, firing barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel as the Iron Dome aerial defense system scrambled to destroy Iranian missiles. The attack came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a speech, vowing to bring Israel “to ruin.”
At least 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in the Israeli strikes on Iran on Friday, Iran’s ambassador to the UN Amir-Saeid Iravani said, while Israeli rescuers reported 34 injuries in Tehran’s retaliatory strikes.
The Israeli attack was the culmination of numerous reports of a potential Israeli attack on Iran and came after the US State Department said it was reducing its diplomatic missions in Iraq and several Middle Eastern countries.
Iraq views the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran with alarm, fearing its territory could again become a battleground. Baghdad’s official position - repeatedly stated by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and previous leaders - is one of neutrality.
In a Friday meeting with Steve Faginm charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Baghdad, and Major General Kevin Leahy, commander of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), Sudani said that Israel’s attack “weakens de-escalation efforts, but also reveals a deliberate intent to escalate and drag the region into a broader confrontation rather than prevent one.”
The stakes are high for Iraq, which hosts both US forces and powerful Iran-backed armed groups. Any retaliatory strike launched from its soil could provoke devastating responses, which could undermine its sovereignty and threaten the country’s fragile stability, as it is still recovering from decades of war.