Iraq thwarted 29 attempts to fire at Israel or US troops during Iran war, PM says

The prime minister of Iraq says his country thwarted over two dozen attempts by militias to fire missiles and drones at Israel during the 12-day war with Iran last month.

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani says armed groups in Iraq also attempted to launch missiles and drones at bases in Iraq housing US troops. But the groups were thwarted 29 times by Iraqi government “security operations” that he does not detail.

Al-Sudani says he used a mix of political and military pressure to stop armed groups aligned with Iran from entering the fray.

“We know that the (Israeli) government had a policy — and still does — of expanding the war in the region,” al-Sudani tells the Associated Press. “Therefore, we made sure not to give any justification to any party to target Iraq.”

Al-Sudani says his government also reached out to leaders in Iran “to urge them toward calm and to make room for dialogue and a return to negotiations.”

He also defends Baghdad’s handling of efforts to free Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who went missing in Iraq in 2023.

Her family believes she is being held by the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, and there have reportedly been US-mediated negotiations to negotiate her release.

Al-Sudani does not name the group responsible for Tsurkov’s kidnapping, but pushes back against the idea that his government has not made serious efforts to free her, saying his government has a team dedicated to finding her.

“We do not negotiate with gangs and kidnappers,” he says, but the team has been in discussions with political factions that might be able to help locate her.