Iraq's Al-Nujabaa comments on potential Iranian response to Israel

Shafaq News / Al-Nujabaa Movement, one of the prominent Iran-backed Islamic Resistance armed groups, commented on the possibility of Iraqi factions participating in Iran's response to Israel.

Firas al-Yasir, a member of the Political Bureau of Al-Nujabaa Movement, told Shafaq News Agency, "The resistance factions adhere to the principle of unity of the battlefields. If any country within the axis of resistance is targeted, we will intervene. This is a strategic military principle, and hence there could be cooperation among all axis parties within a unified operations room."

Al-Yasir emphasized that "Iran does not need Iraqi factions to respond to Israel. It has significant capabilities and is the supporter of the resistance axis on various fronts. Therefore, it does not require factions to defend it or respond on its behalf. Responding to Israel is limited to the Iranian leadership, and Iran has the capability to respond to Israel from any suitable location."

He stressed that "the primary mission of Iraqi resistance factions is to support Palestinian resistance and aid Gaza. The escalation of faction operations against the Zionist entity depends on the overall situation and developments determined by the leadership of Islamic resistance operations."

The Iranian response seems imminent, as indicated by White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby's statement confirming that "the Iranian threat is real."

This comes as Israel and the US prepare for the possibility of Iran directing an attack on Israeli facilities in response to the targeting of its embassy in Damascus in an Israeli airstrike.

The attack resulted in the killing of Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a leader in the IRGC’s Quds Force, along with his deputy and five others.

According to official Iranian reports, this strike is not the first of its kind. "The Israeli military, along with its American ally, has previously targeted numerous Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq, assassinating several individuals."

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi vowed, on Tuesday, that the recent airstrikes targeting the Iranian embassy in Damascus "will not pass without a response."

"Having failed to destroy the will of the resistance front, the Zionist regime (Israel) has put blind assassinations back on its agenda to save itself. It must know that it will never achieve its goals and that this cowardly crime will not go unanswered," Raisi said.

In turn, the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened to "punish" Israel for targeting the Iranian embassy.

Khamenei stated, "The Zionists will regret their crime after the aggression on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, and our men will punish them."

Notably, Israel has conducted previous attacks against Iran's interests and proxies, even before the outbreak of the October 7 war, citing concerns that Iran and its proxies might utilize Syria as "a base for aggression" against it.