US says it will ‘intensify cooperation’ with Iraq to halt attacks on its forces

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The United States and Iraq will “intensify cooperation” to prevent attacks and ensure Iraqi territory is not used to launch assaults against US facilities, Washington’s embassy in Baghdad says in a statement.

Since the war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Iraq has been increasingly drawn into a conflict it had sought to avoid at all costs.

Pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups have carried out drone and rocket attacks against multiple US targets, including the embassy in Baghdad.

These pro-Iran factions, some of which are integrated into the Iraqi security forces, have themselves been regularly targeted by strikes, which the groups have blamed on the US or Israel.

The US embassy and Iraq released statements late yesterday, announcing the creation of a “High Joint Coordination Committee” to oversee efforts to tackle attacks in Iraq.

“The Iraqi and US sides decided to intensify cooperation to prevent terrorist attacks and ensure that Iraqi territory is not used as a launching point for any aggression against the Iraqi people, the Iraqi Security Forces, Iraqi strategic facilities and assets, as well as against US personnel, diplomatic missions, and the Global Coalition,” the US embassy in Baghdad said in a statement posted on X.