US officials said Monday that Iraq was not notified ahead of a series of strikes on Iran-linked targets in the country, contradicting earlier statements that the Iraqi government was notified before the strikes occurred.
“As for this specific response on Friday, there was not a pre-notification. We informed the Iraqis immediately after the strikes occurred,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a briefing on Monday.
“Iraq, like every country in the region, understood that there would be a response after the deaths of our soldiers,” he noted.
In a call with reporters on Friday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had said the US “did inform the Iraqi government prior to the strikes.” On Monday, however, following the State Department briefing, Kirby confirmed that he misspoke.
In a statement to CNN, Kirby said he “responded with information that I had been provided at the time” after the strikes on Friday.
“It was not as specific as it could have been, and I regret any confusion caused,” he said. “That said, we had made no secret – both to Iraqi officials and in public channels – that we would respond to the attacks.”
The correction came days after the US struck more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliated groups. Among the targets hit were command and control operations centers, rockets, missiles, intelligence centers, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities. The strikes came as retaliation for a drone attack on a US outpost in Jordan that killed three US soldiers and left dozens more wounded.
Iraq denounced the US’ strikes in a statement, calling the action a “flagrant violation of Iraq’s…
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