US expresses outrage to Iraqi PM over embassy attacks

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed outrage over recent attacks on American facilities in Iraq in a phone call Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

The call came a day after at least five katyusha rockets landed in the heavily fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, some of which directly hit the U.S. embassy.

"Secretary Pompeo expressed his outrage at the continued assaults by Iran’s armed groups against U.S. facilities in Iraq, including yesterday’s rocket attacks against our Embassy, which resulted in one injury," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

On Twitter, the top U.S. diplomat labeled the incident a "flagrant attack on Iraq’s sovereignty," urging the Iraqi government to take immediate steps to protect American "diplomatic facilities as required by international law".

During the call, Pompeo told Abdul-Mahdi that the U.S. viewed Sunday's attack as an attempt to distract Iraqi and international attention from the “brutal suppression of peaceful Iraqi protesters by Iran and its proxies.”

He also reaffirmed Washington's enduring commitment to the Iraqi people, said the statement.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes two days after thousands of Iraqis gathered in Baghdad calling for U.S. troops to leave the country.

The presence of foreign troops has been a hot issue in the country after top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was assassinated earlier this month in a U.S. drone strike outside Baghdad International Airport.