Senior Iranian official visits Iraq after escalation in region
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian arrived in Iraq in his first visit since assuming office.
The visit comes a day after a statement by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in which he warned the U.S. and Britain of not testing “the wrath of the region.”
Ahmadian was received by Esam al-Saadi, deputy of Iraqi National Security Advisor, Qasim al-Araji, and Mohamed Ridha al-Husseini, the Acting Head of the Department of Neighboring Countries, according to the Iraqi channel al-Ghadir.
The visit of the senior Iranian official comes at a time when the region is witnessing increasing tension due to the strikes carried out by Washington against Iranian targets in both Iraq and Syria.
On Jan. 2, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on facilities of Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone attack on Jan. 28 on a U.S. base in northeast Jordan. The attack resulted in the death of three American soldiers and in the injury of 40 others.
The so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella term for Iran-backed militias in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Friday’s round of attacks “is the start of our response.”