US Calls on Iraq to Protect American Diplomats in Baghdad

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called on Iraq to better protect American diplomats in the country, following an alleged drone attack near a U.S. diplomatic facility in Baghdad.

Landau on April 9 summoned Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Khirullah to condemn what State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott called the “egregious terrorist attacks by Iran-aligned militia groups” launched from Iraq against U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities.

Pigott said the April 8 incident occurred after hundreds of attacks in recent weeks targeted U.S. diplomatic facilities, commercial interests, and citizens, “as well as Iraq’s neighbors and Iraqi institutions and civilians, including in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”

“While acknowledging the efforts of Iraqi Security Forces to respond to these terrorist attacks, the Deputy Secretary emphasized the Iraqi government’s failure to prevent these attacks while some elements associated with the Iraqi government continue to actively provide political, financial, and operational cover for the militias adversely impacts the U.S.-Iraq relationship,” Pigott said, according to a readout from the Office of the Spokesperson.

“The Deputy Secretary stressed the United States will not tolerate attacks on U.S. interests and expects the Iraqi government to immediately take all measures to dismantle the Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq.”

On April 8, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said that “Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran” had conducted multiple drone attacks near the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center and Baghdad International Airport.

In a March 8 security alert, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said that these militias “may intend to target U.S. citizens, diplomatic facilities, businesses, universities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other locations perceived to be associated with the United States,” adding that terrorist groups have targeted U.S. citizens for kidnapping.

The Epoch Times contacted the Iraqi government for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Since the start of the Iran war, dozens ‌of ⁠people have been killed in Iraq, including civilians, members of the police and army, U.S.-allied Kurdish Peshmerga ​fighters, and members of the Iran-affiliated Shi’ite Popular Mobilization Forces,  according to Iraqi health authorities.

US Journalist Released

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this week confirmed that an American journalist who had been abducted by an Iranian-backed terrorist group in Iraq had been released.

Shelly Kittleson, a freelance journalist who contributes to Al-Monitor, was abducted by terrorist group Kataib Hezbollah in Baghdad on March 31.

“Under President Trump, the wrongful detention or kidnapping of U.S. nationals will not be tolerated. We will continue to use every tool to bring Americans home and to hold accountable those responsible,” Rubio said in a April 7 X post.

Rubio said the FBI, the Department of War, and U.S. personnel from multiple agencies, along with the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council and Iraqi partners, assisted in securing Kittleson’s release.

Kataib Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government in 2009.

Reuters and Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.