On March 3, the American Embassy in Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was hit by a drone, not fired from Iran, but fired from Iraq.
Previously, Iraqi militias aligned with Iran had claimed 16 operations using military drones aimed at hitting enemy targets both inside Iraq and beyond.
These Iraqi militias follow hardline positions against American allies in the Middle East.
The Iraqi militias are standing with their ally Iran, after the unprovoked February 28 attack by the US and Israel on Iran that resulted in the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in addition to several other top Iranian officials.
On February 3, multiple armed drones were aimed at the US Consulate General and the US-led coalition base at Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq. US-operated air defense systems intercepted them with resulting loud explosions heard in the area.
There were no reported casualties among the US-coalition troops stationed there.
Erbil has faced almost constant drone and missile threats from the Iraqi Shiite militias since the beginning of the war.
Prior to the war, the militias had been in discussions to disarm; however, they said they would surrender their weapons only once Iraq achieves full sovereignty, including the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq.
Pro-Iran militias are drawing Iraq into a regional war, which severely complicates the plans in Washington. It is questionable whether the US can wage war on two battlefronts at the same time.
Some analysts ponder if Washington miscalculated on the consequences of attacking and assassinating the Supreme Leader of Iran, who is revered by Shiites globally, not only in Iran.
Iraq is populated primarily by Shiite Muslims, along with a Sunni minority.
The militias have already conducted funerals for their members killed on March 2 after being targeted on the Syrian border.
For the Iraqi government in Baghdad, this is a test of sovereignty and stability. Baghdad does not want to be an open battlefield, and does not want to slip into civil war while trying to disarm the militias.
Iraq has a very long border with Iran, is hosting US military personnel, and has a population that has strong sympathies with Iran.
Iraq is a major oil producer and a transit corridor in the region, which highlights the potential economic impact Iraq is facing from this war.
Currently, Iraq has numerous Shiite militias backed by Iran. The Popular Mobilization Forces (Hasg al-Shaabi) are a state-sanctioned umbrella organization, officially under the Iraqi Prime Minister. However, the groups answer to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
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