Iraq to summon Iranian ambassador over strikes on military bases: statement

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it will summon the Iranian ambassador over the Iranian missile strikes on military bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq.

A statement by the ministry said it rejects the Iranian missile attacks and considers them a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, while calling on all concerned parties to exercise self-restraint and work to reduce the tension.

The ministry statement came after Iran fired ballistic missiles earlier in the day on military bases housing US troops in Iraq's western province of Anbar and near the city of Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan.

Last week, a US drone attacked a convoy at Baghdad International Airport, killing Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.

More than 5,000 US troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against Islamic State militants.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)