Baghdad Suspects Israel Targeted Chinese Air Defense Systems Stored by Iraqi Militias

Iraqi officials believe Israel was behind recent attacks on two sites where Iran-backed militias stored Chinese-made air defense systems. Sources told the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that the strikes occurred last week. The weapons were reportedly supplied by Tehran, though the report did not specify the exact model of the system involved.

The newspaper noted that the report lacked physical evidence and acknowledged that some details remained unconfirmed. One source stated that the armed group which selected the storage location considered it difficult to reach or detect. The suspected attack followed shortly after the shipments arrived at both sites.

An explosion at a Popular Mobilization Forces base in Baghdad’s East Canal area on October 17 also drew attention. The PMF, an umbrella body for many Iranian-backed militias and a paramilitary force within the Iraqi government, initially described the blast as an accident. The Iraqi government promised an investigation into the incident. The newspaper reported that the blast hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition and injured five people.

An anonymous Iraqi official said authorities were still examining the circumstances of the October 17 explosion. The report observed that more than a week had passed without a public update on the investigation. Other sources linked this mid-October blast to an earlier incident on October 1. Warehouses connected to Iran-backed groups in and around Baghdad were reportedly affected in that event. Those stores reportedly held drones intended for suicide attacks and reconnaissance missions.

A security official told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraqi authorities had not determined the precise nature of the strikes. However, the official said the government had seen enough evidence to attribute the attacks to Israel. This assessment aligns with previous instances where Iraqi officials blamed Israel for strikes on their territory. Iranian-backed militias pointed to Israel for attacks in 2019 and for a strike 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. Asharq Al-Awsat also cited conflicting and unconfirmed accounts of Israeli fighter jets flying through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border. These flights were reportedly supported by midair refuelers. The newspaper connected these movements to the current strikes on militia storage sites.

Iran has armed Iraqi militias for years with missiles and drones capable of threatening Israel. These groups launched numerous attacks on Israel after Hamas began its war on October 7, 2023. Since the United States and Israel began airstrikes in February, Iran has sought to use Iraq as a frontline. The country has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on the Kurdistan Region using drones and missiles. Iran and allied militias have mounted 600 attacks across Iraq, some aimed at US diplomatic sites.

The United States withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30. This deadline was agreed upon with Baghdad over previous years. Washington has warned Americans against traveling to Baghdad. Asharq Al-Awsat linked reports of China supplying weapons to Iran with the movement of those systems to Iraq. The newspaper described this 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 from Iraq’s Maysan province. That crossing has been closed since amid US pressure and Iraqi concerns about trafficking.

A source in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said ruling party leaders had spent weeks predicting renewed war between Washington and Tehran. The source said leaders expected the conflict to begin with the destruction of the Iraqi factions' capabilities. Most major groups in the PMF, excluding the Badr Organization, have been sanctioned by the US as terrorist organizations. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a collection of militias, published a statement claiming Iraqi airspace was being violated.