Iraqi Officials Suspect Israel Targeted Iranian-Backed Militia Weapons Stashes

Iraqi officials believe that Israel was responsible for recent strikes on two locations where Iranian-backed militias stored shoulder-fired air defense systems. According to sources cited by the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday, the weapons involved were of Chinese origin and had been supplied by Tehran. The strikes, which took place last week, targeted sites that the armed groups had selected specifically because they were difficult to detect or reach.

The report did not specify the exact model of the air defense system used. It also acknowledged that some parts of the claim could not be fully confirmed. One source noted that the attack occurred shortly after the shipments arrived at both locations. In addition to these two sites, the newspaper highlighted an explosion on October 17 at a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF. The PMF is an umbrella organization that includes many Iranian-backed groups and also functions as a paramilitary force for the Iraqi government.

The PMF initially described the October 17 blast as an accident, and the Iraqi government promised an investigation. The newspaper reported that the explosion hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition at a headquarters in the East Canal area of Baghdad, injuring five people. An anonymous Iraqi official stated that authorities were still examining the circumstances. However, the report noted that more than a week had passed without an official update on the investigation.

Other sources indicated that this mid-October incident followed another event on October 1. At that time, warehouses linked to Iran-backed groups in and around Baghdad were affected. These sites reportedly held drones intended for suicide attacks and reconnaissance missions. A security official said that while Iraqi authorities had not definitively determined the nature of the strikes, they had seen enough evidence to believe Israel was behind them.

This is not the first time Iraqi leaders have suspected Israeli involvement in regional strikes. Iranian-backed militias previously blamed Israel for strikes in 2019 and for an attack near the Iraqi border in Albukamal, Syria. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had established a secret airstrip in Iraq during its campaign against Iran. Asharq Al-Awsat also referenced unconfirmed accounts of Israeli fighter jets flying through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border, supported by midair refueling tankers.

Iran has armed Iraqi militias for years, providing them with missiles and drones capable of threatening Israel. These groups carried out numerous attacks on Israel after Hamas began its war on October 7, 2023. Since the US and Israel began airstrikes in February, Iran has sought to use Iraq as a frontline. The country has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on the Kurdistan Region using drones and missiles. Additionally, Iran and its allied militias have mounted 600 attacks across Iraq, some of which targeted US diplomatic sites.

The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, a deadline agreed upon with Baghdad over previous years. Washington has since warned American citizens against traveling to Baghdad. The newspaper linked earlier reports of China supplying weapons to Iran with the movement of these systems to Iraq, though it described that connection as unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied those reports on July 28. Separately, an Iran-backed militia attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline with a drone, reportedly launched from Iraq's Maysan province. That crossing has since been closed amid US pressure and Iraqi concerns about trafficking.

Asharq Al-Awsat concluded that these strikes signal the start of a new round of conflict, although the original incidents date to early and mid-October. A source within the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said that ruling party leaders had spent weeks predicting that renewed war between Washington and Tehran would begin with the destruction of the Iraqi factions' capabilities. Most major groups in the PMF, with the exception of the Badr Organization, have been sanctioned by the US as terrorist organizations. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a collection of militias that has attacked Israel and the US in the past, recently published a statement claiming that Iraqi airspace was being violated.