Iraqi Officials Point to Israel After Strikes on Iranian-Armed Militia Stockpiles

Iraqi authorities have identified the likely perpetrator behind a series of recent explosions that damaged two critical storage sites in the country. Officials believe Israel was responsible for the strikes, which targeted locations where Iran-backed militias kept shoulder-fired air defense systems of Chinese origin. These weapons were reportedly supplied by Tehran, making them a significant asset for the armed groups operating within Iraqi borders.

The details emerged from sources cited by the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. The report did not specify which exact model of air defense system was involved. It also offered no physical evidence to support the claims and acknowledged that parts of the narrative remained unconfirmed. One source noted that the armed group selecting the storage spot considered it nearly impossible to reach or detect. The suspected attack occurred shortly after the shipments arrived at both sites, with the strikes taking place last week.

Asharq Al-Awsat also highlighted an explosion on October 17 at a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF. This umbrella body includes many Iranian-backed militias and functions as a paramilitary force under the Iraqi government. The PMF described the blast as an accident, while the Iraqi government promised an investigation. The newspaper reported that the explosion hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition at a headquarters in Baghdad's East Canal area, injuring five people. An anonymous Iraqi official said authorities were still looking into the circumstances, even though more than a week had passed without an update.

Other sources indicated that the mid-October blast followed an incident on October 1. At that time, warehouses linked to Iran-backed groups in and around Baghdad were apparently affected. These reportedly included stores of drones meant for suicide attacks and reconnaissance missions. A security official stated that Iraqi authorities had not determined the exact nature of the strikes but had seen enough evidence to believe Israel was behind them.

This is not the first time Iraqis have pointed the finger at Israel. Iranian-backed militias previously blamed Israel for strikes in 2019 and for an attack in Albukamal, Syria, near the Iraqi border. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had set up a secret airstrip in Iraq during the campaign against Iran. Asharq Al-Awsat also noted conflicting, unconfirmed accounts of Israeli fighter jets flying through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border with the support of midair refuelers.

Iran has armed Iraqi militias for years, supplying them with missiles and drones capable of threatening Israel. These groups carried out many attacks on Israel after Hamas began its war on October 7, 2023. Since the US and Israel began airstrikes in February, Iran has sought to turn Iraq into a frontline. It has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on the Kurdistan Region using drones and missiles, and Iran and allied militias have mounted 600 attacks across Iraq, some aimed at US diplomatic sites. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, a deadline agreed with Baghdad over previous years, and has warned Americans against traveling to Baghdad.

The newspaper appeared to link earlier reports of China supplying weapons to Iran with the movement of the same systems to Iraq, though it described that connection as unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied those reports on July 28. Separately, an Iran-backed militia attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline with a drone, reportedly from Iraq's Maysan province near the Iranian border. That crossing has since been closed amid US pressure and Iraqi concerns about trafficking.

Asharq Al-Awsat concluded that the strikes signal the start of a new round of conflict, even though the original incidents date to early and mid-October. A source in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said ruling party leaders had spent weeks predicting that renewed war between Washington and Tehran would begin with the total destruction of the Iraqi factions' capabilities. Most of the major groups in the PMF, apart from the Badr Organization, have been sanctioned by the US as terrorist organizations. Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a collection of militias that has attacked Israel and the US in the past, published a statement claiming Iraqi airspace was being violated.