TEHRAN - The Iraqi government announced on Thursday it had no prior knowledge of the U.S. and Saudi strikes on positions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that the operation had been coordinated with Baghdad.
Government spokesperson Haider Al-Aboudi said in a media interview that the government “had no knowledge of the strikes and did not give approval to any party to carry out these attacks”.
He stressed that the government “will not allow Iraqi territory to become a stage for military operations without its knowledge and without the approval of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces”.
In the joint U.S.-Saudi attacks on several locations across Iraq, 20 PMF members were killed and about 30 others injured.
Trump claimed the strikes “were carried out in coordination with the Iraqi government”, according to a Fox News correspondent.
Trump is famous for his lies and misleading information.
Examples of false or misleading statements by Trump even during his second term have been documented by fact-checkers. These often involve exaggerations of economic achievements, foreign policy successes, immigration, crime, health claims, and continued assertions about elections.
For example, in his first 10 months or so of presidency, he repeatedly claimed to have “ended eight wars”. But these were often incomplete, temporary, or involved ongoing violence/violations; the tally has been widely rated as exaggerated. He also...
TEHRAN - The Iraqi government announced on Thursday it had no prior knowledge of the U.S. and Saudi strikes on positions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), contradicting U.S. President Dona...