Baghdad Blames Israel for Depot Blasts

Iraqi authorities have concluded that Israel likely targeted two storage facilities in Baghdad where Iran-backed militias kept shoulder-fired air defense systems of Chinese origin. London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat cited sources on Saturday who said the weapons were supplied by Tehran. The report noted that the specific model of the system was not identified and that some details remained unconfirmed.

One source told the newspaper that the armed group selecting the storage location considered the sites extremely difficult to detect. The suspected attacks occurred shortly after the shipments arrived at both depots. These strikes took place during the week preceding the report. The publication also referenced an explosion at a Popular Mobilization Forces base on October 17. The PMF, a paramilitary umbrella group including many Iranian-backed militias, labeled the blast an accident.

The October 17 incident occurred at a headquarters in Baghdad's East Canal district. It struck a stockpile of obsolete ammunition and injured five people. An anonymous Iraqi official stated that authorities were still investigating the circumstances. More than a week has passed since the explosion without a public update from the government. The PMF had previously promised a full investigation into the event.

Sources indicated that the mid-October blast followed an earlier incident on October 1. Warehouses linked to Iran-backed groups in and around Baghdad were affected in that prior event. These facilities reportedly stored drones designed for suicide attacks and reconnaissance missions. A security official told Asharq Al-Awsat that while the exact nature of the strikes was undetermined, Iraqi authorities had gathered enough evidence to attribute the actions to Israel.

This is not the first time Iraqi groups have attributed damage to Israeli operations. Iranian-backed militias 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 established a secret airstrip in Iraq during its campaign against Iran. Unconfirmed accounts also describe Israeli fighter jets using Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border with midair refueling support.

Iran has equipped Iraqi militias with missiles and drones for years, allowing them to threaten Israel. These groups conducted numerous attacks after Hamas began its war on October 7, 2023. Since the US and Israel started airstrikes in February, Iran has aimed to make Iraq a frontline. It has launched more than 1,000 strikes on the Kurdistan Region and 600 attacks across Iraq, some targeting US diplomatic sites. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, a deadline agreed upon over several years, and has warned Americans against traveling to Baghdad.

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

A source in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said ruling party leaders had predicted for weeks that renewed war between Washington and Tehran would begin with the destruction of Iraqi factions' capabilities. Most major groups in the PMF, except the Badr Organization, are sanctioned by the US as terrorist organizations. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of militias that has attacked Israel and the US in the past, issued a statement claiming Iraqi airspace was being violated.