ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The arrest of five Polish individuals in the Iraqi capital Baghdad was a standard procedure for identity verification, the Iraqi Interior Ministry affirmed on Saturday, ruling out media reports that the matter was related to a spy network.
In a statement, the ministry slammed as “not true” the “reports circulated by some media outlets and social media platforms about the arrest of a spy network in the capital Baghdad.”
The ministry clarified that “five individuals of Polish nationality, who entered the country legally through official entry points about ten days ago, were arrested,” noting that the issue was “due to suspicion raised regarding their presence near Tahrir Square,” in the heart of Baghdad.
Security forces took the necessary legal measures and “detained the individuals for identity verification,” the ministry added, noting that “after reviewing their identification documents, entry procedures into Iraq, and their residency, it was confirmed that all their procedures were legal and their presence in the country was legitimate.”
The Iraqi interior ministry finally urged media outlets and social media users to “exercise accuracy in reporting, rely on official sources, and refrain from circulating inaccurate news that may cause public confusion.”
The reports notably come at a critical time when Iraq is caught in the crossfire of the Iran-Israel-US war, which commenced last Saturday when Washington and Tel Aviv kicked off a joint operation targeting over 3,000 targets in Iran in the first seven days of the campaign, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported Saturday.
The campaign notably saw the killing of longtime Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on its first day.
For its part, Iran said Friday that it had launched more than 2,000 drones and over 600 missiles targeting US and Israeli positions as part of its multi‑front response to the ongoing campaign.
The Iranian response has also included strikes by groups aligned with the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, including the Tehran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, which on Monday attacked northern Israel, prompting a large-scale response from Tel Aviv. Moreover, shadowy Iran-linked groups have in recent days carried out attacks against alleged US targets in Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region.
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