Truce between US and Iranian proxy groups ‘still holds’ despite strikes
American bases in Iraq and Syria hit for first time in months as tension rises between Israel and Tehran
An unannounced truce that prompted Iran-backed militias in Iraq to halt attacks on US troops remains intact despite two breaches this week, sources told The National yesterday.
Attacks on two US bases in Syria and Iraq on Monday were carried out without the approval of militia leaders, indicating division among the factions that make up the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
The rockets fired at US targets were the first since early February, when a truce was reached involving the US, Iraq and Iran. The US State Department confirmed one of the attacks.
However, an Iraqi security source told The National that the truce “is still holding” and is likely to continue until the beginning of next month.
Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq’s most powerful militias, denied responsibility for the attack in Syria, just hours after issuing a statement on Telegram saying that it was resuming strikes on US targets.
“There was no central decision from the militias’ leadership to carry out the attack on the US base,” the Iraqi source said.
“It was most likely the work of individuals within the militias who decided to attack.”
Tehran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria began a campaign of strikes against US troops after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October last year.
However, the attacks stopped in February, after three US troops at a base in Jordan were killed in a strike the previous month, which Washington attributed to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Since then, the US and Iran have continued to hold indirect talks in an effort to expand the scope of the unannounced truce in Iraq to cover the rest of the Middle East, sources have said.
A Shiite politician with ties to the militias told The National yesterday that several of the groups disagreed with the cessation of attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria.
“Some of the factions, including Kataib Hezbollah, are pushing to cancel the truce because of what they consider as procrastination from the Americans and the weak [Iraqi] government position in discussions over US troop withdrawal,” he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani did not discuss the withdrawal of US troops from the country during his visit to Washington last week, which prompted anger among some of the militias, the politician said.
However, he added, “the truce is still in place and there are no indications at this point of its collapse”.
About 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq, having been involved in the international coalition to fight ISIS in the country. However, since October last year, the government in Baghdad has faced growing pressure to demand the Americans withdraw from Iraq, as the US carried out retaliatory strikes against the Iran-backed militias in the country.
On January 27, Iraq and the US held the first round of talks aimed to secure the withdrawal of coalition troops. Baghdad expects the discussions will lead to a timetable for the troops to leave, and hopes to reach bilateral security agreements with each member of the coalition.
A source with ties to the militias said Monday’s attacks were meant as a “warning”, and that some of the groups “are not satisfied with what the Prime Minister brought back from Washington”.
“There is no specific date or timetable related to the exit of the coalition forces led by the Americans, which is one of the basic demands of the factions,” the source said.
Monday’s strikes came amid a rise in tension between Iran and Israel, with the two countries having traded direct attacks in recent weeks.
Israel struck a weapons factory in Iran’s central Isfahan province on Friday, less than a week after Tehran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, with 99 per cent of the projectiles being intercepted.
The Iranian attack was carried out in response to Israel bombing Tehran’s embassy complex in Damascus at the start of the month.
Israel provided the US with advance warning before its strike on Friday, but Washington did not endorse or take part in the operation, American media reported.
Monday’s attacks were carried out without the approval of militia leaders amid division among the Iran-backed factions