US sites in Iraq hit over 600 times by Iran-backed militias amid Trump’s push for deal

BAGHDAD, IRAQ: The US is urging the Iraqi government to distance itself from militia groups backed by Tehran. It has also imposed sanctions on Iraqi officials over their alleged connections with Iran.

This comes after more than 600 attacks on US diplomatic facilities in Iraq since the beginning of the war led by the US and Israel, according to the State Department and a senior official. 

As President Donald Trump continues to support tough military actions linked to Iran, critics are warning that the conflict could open multiple fronts involving militias aligned with Tehran throughout the region. 

Iran-backed militias launch attacks on US facilities in Iraq

According to the US official cited in the NBC News report, Iran-backed groups operating in Iraq have launched more than 600 attacks against American facilities and personnel since the broader conflict escalated.

One facility, the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center, which is a logistics hub for US diplomats, has been targeted by repeated drone strikes and was hit in mid-March.

As recently, the US Embassy in Baghdad urged Americans to leave Iraq, warning that “militias continue to plot additional attacks against US citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq.”

Videos from the attacks in Baghdad last spring captured smoke billowing from a facility near the airport in April and flames burning on the embassy roof in March.

The State Department imposed sanctions on Ali Maarij al-Bahadly, Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Oil.

Officials accused him of abusing his role to funnel Iraqi oil to Iran, alleging that Iranian oil was mixed in and later sold to help Tehran. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott laid out the details. The US also imposed fresh sanctions on oil companies tied to militias.

US pressures Iraq to dismantle Iran-backed militia groups

Newly elected Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi has been under pressure to take concrete action, including from President Donald Trump, who last week, in a social media post, wished him “success as he works to form a new government free from extremism that could deliver a brighter future for Iraq.”

Deputy Secretary of State Landau emphasized the Iraqi government’s failure to prevent the attacks and said the US “expects the Iraqi government to immediately take all measures to dismantle the Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq,” according to a readout of the meeting.

Concrete actions for the White House would include expelling militias, cutting off their support, and denying them payments, the official said.

The US does not underestimate “the severity of the challenge or what it would take to disentangle these relationships,” the senior official said.

“It could start with a clear and unambiguous statement of policy that the terrorist militias are not part of the Iraqi state.”