US State Department Deputy Reveals US Didn't Warn Iraq Before Striking

By Al Mayadeen English

5 Feb 2024 23:21

John Kirby's statement has been debunked by his own as the US appears to not have warned Iraq before striking the country.

State Department interim spokesman Vedant Patel, listens as Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a briefing on the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices at the State Department in Washington, Monday, March 20, 2023(AP)

US State Department deputy principal spokesperson, Vedant Patel, revealed today that contrary to John Kirby's statement last week, Coordinator for Strategic Communications, the United States did not provide advance notice to Iraq before its recent strikes on Iraqi territory.

Patel stated "Iraq, like every country in the region, understood that there would be a response after the deaths of our soldiers. As for this specific response on Friday, there was not a pre-notification. We informed the Iraqis immediately after the strikes occurred," debunking Kirby's claims of the US informing Iraq before conducting its strikes on the country.

What happened in Jordan? 

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on the evening of January 28 that three US soldiers had been killed, while at least 25 had been injured in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border.

"On Jan. 28, three U.S. service members were killed and 25 injured from a one-way attack UAS that impacted at a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border," CENTCOM said.

Later, citing a US official, Reuters reported that the number of US soldiers injured in the drone attack in northeast Jordan had risen to 34.

Biden has blamed "radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq," likely referring to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq which announced earlier in January that they would escalate their attacks after the US conducted several raids in Iraq and assassinated a military official in central Baghdad.

Iran denied any involvement 

Iran's United Nations Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani had emphatically denied the accusations made by the United States regarding the country's alleged engagement in anti-American activities in West Asia.

Iravani conveyed these remarks in a letter directed to the president of the UN Security Council on January 29. The letter was issued three days after a letter from the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, accusing "militia groups affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces" of undertaking "actions against US personnel and facilities in Iraq and Syria."

Iravani affirmed that "there is no group affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces, whether in Iraq, Syria, or elsewhere that operates directly or indirectly under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran or acts on its behalf."

US strikes Syria and Iraq

US air strikes targeted military sites near Ain Ali, south of the city of Al Mayadin in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, Syria, sources told Al Mayadeen on February 3.

The sources later identified the airstrikes as American, saying they bombed the Deir Ezzor airport in the country's east.

Sources tell Al Mayadeen that 3 members of the auxiliary forces to the Syrian Arab Army were martyred as a result of the raids.

Meanwhile, ABC News reported that US military strikes kicked off in Syria in response to the fatal operation in Jordan, which killed three US soldiers and was said to have been carried out by the Iraqi Resistance.

CENTCOM revealed that US forces struck more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria with numerous aircraft, including long-range bombers that were said to have taken off from the United States.