Ex-PM warns of ‘grave’ breach over alleged secret foreign military base in Iraq
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Former Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday warned that Iraq would face a “grave breach” of its sovereignty if reports about the establishment of a secret Israeli military base in the southern Najaf desert prove true, calling for transparency and accountability from the authorities.
“If the circulating reports regarding the establishment of a secret military base in Najaf desert are accurate, thus; Iraq will be facing a grave breach that directly undermines its sovereignty,” Kadhimi, who served as the Iraqi prime minister from 2020 to 2022, said in a statement posted on X.
“It is a matter that necessitates full transparency to the Iraqi people and a clear determination of responsibilities without equivocation or justification,” he added.
Kadhimi criticized what he described as weak state control and governance through “media optics and propagandistic victories,” warning that the reality on the ground points to “dangerous fragility in control, decision making, and oversight.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that “Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who almost discovered it early in the war,” citing “people familiar with the matter including U.S. officials.”
According to the Journal, the installation “housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, just before the war started with the knowledge of the U.S.”
Iraqi authorities said no unauthorized landing or foreign military presence had been recorded in the area in the past two months, but confirmed a clash between the Iraqi army and an “unidentified force” in early March that killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded two others.
Kadhimi stressed that protecting Iraq requires “building of a state that possesses an independent national decision, imposing its authority across the entirety of its territory, subjects arms to the rule of law, and prevents the country from becoming an open arena for the settlement of regional and international conflicts.”
“The Iraqi people have already paid a heavy price as a consequence of denial, political obstinacy, and the absence of transparency,” he said. “It is no longer acceptable for critical national issues to continue being managed with a mentality rooted in evasion of responsibility.”
“If the circulating reports regarding the establishment of a secret military base in Najaf desert are accurate, thus; Iraq will be facing a grave breach that directly undermines its sovereignty,” Kadhimi, who served as the Iraqi prime minister from 2020 to 2022, said in a statement posted on X.
“It is a matter that necessitates full transparency to the Iraqi people and a clear determination of responsibilities without equivocation or justification,” he added.
Kadhimi criticized what he described as weak state control and governance through “media optics and propagandistic victories,” warning that the reality on the ground points to “dangerous fragility in control, decision making, and oversight.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that “Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who almost discovered it early in the war,” citing “people familiar with the matter including U.S. officials.”
According to the Journal, the installation “housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, just before the war started with the knowledge of the U.S.”
Iraqi authorities said no unauthorized landing or foreign military presence had been recorded in the area in the past two months, but confirmed a clash between the Iraqi army and an “unidentified force” in early March that killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded two others.
Kadhimi stressed that protecting Iraq requires “building of a state that possesses an independent national decision, imposing its authority across the entirety of its territory, subjects arms to the rule of law, and prevents the country from becoming an open arena for the settlement of regional and international conflicts.”
“The Iraqi people have already paid a heavy price as a consequence of denial, political obstinacy, and the absence of transparency,” he said. “It is no longer acceptable for critical national issues to continue being managed with a mentality rooted in evasion of responsibility.”