(FILES) This file image grab taken from Kurdistan 24 TV channel on February 19, 2021 shows damage following a rocket attack two days ago targeting a military complex inside the Arbil airport that hosts foreign troops deployed as part of a US-led coalition – Rockets are again raining down on US targets in Iraq in attacks that, analysts say, show Iran-aligned factions are heaping pressure on the government while Tehran grows impatient with the new US administration. Iraq, scarred by decades of war and insurgency, has been a main battleground for arch-foes the United States and Iran, both allies of Baghdad who remain sharply at odds over Iran’s nuclear programme. (Photo by – / KURDISTAN 24 CHANNEL / AFP) /
Explosive-laden drones that targeted Saudi Arabia s royal palace in the kingdom s capital last month were launched by Iran-backed militia from inside Iraq, officials claim.
A source within the militia in Baghdad told The Associated Press three drones were launched from the Iraqi-Saudi border by a relatively unknown faction, and crashed into the royal complex in Riyadh last month.
The move exacerbated regional tensions amid the kingdom s yearslong war against neighbouring Yemen s Houthi rebels.
Earlier this month, the rebels targeted an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia with bomb-laden drones, causing a civilian plane on the tarmac to catch fire.
And a group believed to have links to Iran wounded several Americans and killed a foreign contractor in a rocket strike on a US base in Iraq just days later.
Iran seeks pressures on US, Iraq through rocket attacks
With its economy squeezed, Tehran is desperate for unfettered access to an account at the state-owned Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), where Baghdad has been paying for imported Iranian gas.
Thursday 25/02/2021
One of the groups fighting within the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitaries, marching with rocket-propelled grande (RPG) launchers in a military parade in the city of Najaf in central Iraq. (AFP)
BAGHDAD Renewed rocket attacks on US targets in Iraq in recent few days show Iran-aligned factions are heaping pressure on the government while Tehran may be seeking leverage over America’s new administration, analysts say.
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