Arab League condemns Iran’s missile strikes on Iraq

Emergency services work at the house of Peshraw Dizayi, which was the target of Iranian missile strikes, Irbil, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Updated 18 January 2024
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Arab League condemns Iran’s missile strikes on Iraq

  • Chief describes attack as ‘a flagrant violation’ of country’s sovereignty
  • Arab Parliament says it was ‘a blatant assault on Arab national security’

CAIRO: The Arab League and Arab Parliament have condemned Iran’s missile strikes on the city of Irbil in northern Iraq, which led to the deaths of several civilians.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, head of the Arab League, said the attacks were a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. He offered his condolences to the families of the victims and wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured.

His spokesman, Jamal Rushdi, described the attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as reprehensible and a “condemnable violation of the principles of sovereignty and good neighborliness.”

It constituted a dangerous development and raised the level of danger amid the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel in the region, he said.

Rushdi reiterated the league’s solidarity with the Iraqi government, citing the measures it takes to maintain the country’s sovereignty and security, and to maintain regional stability.

The Arab Parliament said: “This Iranian aggression … is a blatant assault on Arab national security because the security and stability of Iraq is an integral part of Arab security.”

It reaffirmed its “full solidarity with Iraq in all the measures it will take to preserve its sovereignty and stability and preserve the security of its citizens.”

It also expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.

The IRGC said on Tuesday it launched four missiles at Daesh positions in Syria’s Idlib province and 11 missiles at the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, where it said it hit a center of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.


Hamas says will give up arms to a Palestinian authority ‘if occupation ends’

Updated 50 min 44 sec ago
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Hamas says will give up arms to a Palestinian authority ‘if occupation ends’

  • “We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” Hayya says

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas said Saturday it was ready to hand over its weapons in the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian authority governing the territory on the condition that the Israeli army’s occupation ends.
“Our weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and the aggression,” Hamas chief negotiator and its Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said in a statement, adding: “If the occupation ends, these weapons will be placed under the authority of the state.” Asked by AFP, Hayya’s bureau said he was referring to a sovereign and independent Palestnian state.
“We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” Hayya added, signalling his group’s rejection of the deployment of an international force in the Strip whose mission would be to disarm it.