US, Iraq Strike Anti-Attack Pact as Baghdad Dragged into Iran War Quagmire

BAGHDAD—The United States and Iraq pledged Friday to “intensify cooperation” against drone and rocket assaults, vowing to shield Iraqi soil from use in strikes on American targets, as the Middle East spirals deeper into war.

Washington’s Baghdad embassy announced the deal hours after Iraq authorised its Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF)—a 150,000-strong militia umbrella including Iran-backed units—to “confront and respond” to attacks killing 15 fighters this week.

The pact comes five weeks into the US-Iran conflict, ignited February 28 by US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran nuclear sites. Iraq, long wary of entanglement, now hosts over 20 militia launches on US bases since, per Pentagon logs, alongside retaliatory coalition raids blamed for 200+ militant deaths.

Pro-Iran factions like Kataeb Hezbollah—US-designated terrorists—have hammered sites from Baghdad’s Green Zone to Erbil’s airport, home to a key US consulate and anti-ISIS advisors. Friday’s Erbil blast, heard by AFP witnesses amid rising smoke, underscored the peril for 7,000 US troops lingering despite 2025 drawdown pledges.

Baghdad fumed over a March 20 strike on a western Iraq clinic, killing seven security personnel. Iraq summoned the US charge d’affaires but stopped short of blame; Washington denied intent, calling it a “militant safehouse.”

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Influential Kataeb Hezbollah extended its US embassy attack pause—now on third renewal since March 19—citing “strategic review.” Yet PMF head Falih al-Fayyadh’s green light for reprisals signals defiance, with Iraq’s government threading a needle between Tehran allies and Washington aid.

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hailed the cooperation as “mutual security,” but analysts warn of fracture. “Iraq’s dual loyalty risks civil strife,” said think tank Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies. The US-led coalition, formed post-2014 ISIS surge, faces expulsion calls amid war strain.

As Yemen Houthis fire on Israel and Ukraine eyes UAE drone hubs, Iraq braces. “No victor here—only exhaustion,” tweeted envoy Alina Romanowski.