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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is facing increasing criticism for his government’s inability to stop pro-Iranian militias and the Islamic Republic of Iran from attacking American, French, Italian and Kurdish military personnel and facilities in Iraq.
On Saturday the US Embassy in Baghdad said all US citizens in Iraq should leave “immediately” “Iran-aligned terrorist militias “has attacked international territory in central Baghdad on several occasions.”
The announcement came after a missile reportedly struck a helipad inside the US embassy in Baghdad early Saturday.
Speaking on background, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “The United States strongly condemns attacks by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias against U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities, civilian targets, and energy infrastructure in Iraq, particularly in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.”
US embassy in Baghdad targeted in attacks by Iran during Operation Epic Fury
A billboard carrying a photo of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US and Israeli air strikes, is seen on a street in Baghdad on March 9, 2026. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The statement said, “As Secretary Rubio has said, the Iraqi government should take every possible measure to protect U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities and ensure that militia groups cannot use Iraqi territory to threaten the United States or the region. It is in Iraq’s interest to do so.”
A Kurdish official told Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity that the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq “are paid and armed by the Iraqi government. They are on the Iraqi payroll. This is not the first time they have fired on the US, the Kurdistan Regional Government.” [KRG] and energy sector. These PMFs have shamelessly attacked US military bases.”
According to the official, “Many of these leaders [from the PMF] Al-Sudani’s government and his coalition.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday, an official at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, DC, flatly denied the allegations against al-Sudani. “We wish to unequivocally confirm that allegations claiming the Prime Minister gave the ‘green light’ to any armed group to target American or Western interests are completely false. The Iraqi government has repeatedly stressed its firm rejection of any attacks on diplomatic missions or foreign interests.”
“The Prime Minister has also issued several statements condemning such acts, calling them terrorist activities, and has directed the relevant authorities to pursue those responsible and bring them to justice,” the representative said.
Al-Sudani raised eyebrows last week when he congratulated the Islamic Republic of Iran on the selection of its new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s slain second supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Al-Sudani reportedly said, “We express our confidence in the ability of the new leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran to manage this sensitive phase, and continue to strengthen the unity of the Iranian people in the face of the current challenges.”
Asked about the statement congratulating Khamenei, the Iraqi embassy official said, “This action falls within the scope of standard diplomatic practices undertaken by many countries, including several Gulf states. Iraq maintains diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, including Iran, as well as ensuring balanced relations with all its regional and international partners.”
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A member of the Imam Ali Battalion, a member faction of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitary forces – the armed wing of the Islamic Movement of Iraq – holds a photo that depicts Iraqi PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (who was in a US drone strike in early 2020) while other members of the group during a rally to commemorate the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Baghdad on April 5 Let’s assemble with our flags. 2024. (AFP/Getty Images)
A French soldier was killed and six others were wounded on Friday as attacks on the international anti-jihadist coalition intensified in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. According to France 24, the commanding officer, Colonel Francois-Xavier de la Chesnais, said the French soldier, Arnaud Frion, was killed by an Iranian-designed Shahid lethal drone.
Iraqi Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported on Saturday that “the Kurdistan Region was targeted by seven explosive-laden drones early Saturday as Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq target the US Consulate in Erbil and other military and civilian sites in the region.” Rudaw said the Kurdistan Region has been targeted by more than 300 drone and missile attacks since the start of the US Operation Epic Fury, resulting in seven deaths and 35 injuries.
The Kurdish official complained that al-Sudani’s “government is not serious about confronting the militias because the militias are part of the government.” However, the official praised the US, saying, “The Americans have been attacking them aggressively since last week [PMF] Post.”
U.S. Embassy personnel inspect damage from a bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Hadi Mizban/AP)
“US airstrikes continue to target Iran-backed Iraqi militias as part of the US-Israeli operation against the Islamic Republic,” the Long War Journal reports. Neither the US nor Israel have commented on reports that they are attacking the PMF.
Fox News Digital obtained information from the Israeli Defense Forces in early March that drones had been fired at Israel from Iraqi territory since the war began.
The PMF told the Iraqi news agency that US military forces had carried out 32 airstrikes against the PMF headquarters since February 28.
The Kurdish official urged the Trump administration to “demand that the government of Iraq stop paying and arming the PMF and target their banking system that finances the PMF.” The official added, “We have shared information with the Iraqis and the Americans, who in turn have shared information with the Iraqi government.” On the PMF’s terrorist activities, the official said, “The al-Sudanese government is not ready to confront them.”
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Supporters hold Iranian flags and posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Baghdad’s Sadr district following the announcement of the US-Israeli strikes on March 1, 2026. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The official lamented that the al-Sudani government “made a handful of arrests last year, and they were released on bail and were able to flee to Iran.” The Kurdish official said the KRG “provided the Iraqi government with information about criminals” who had fled to the Islamic Republic.
An Iraqi official dismissed the reports on PMF militants, saying, “I have not heard of any such thing. I think it is not true.”
The Kurdish official singled out two PMF groups as the most aggressive toward the US: Asaib Ahl al Haq (Religious League) and Kata’ib Hezbollah. The Trump administration approved Asaib Ahl Al Haq in March 2024. The State Department said that Assaib Ahl al-Haq “and its leaders are violent representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and that the group is “largely funded and trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.”
The US government sanctioned Kata’ib Hezbollah in 2023. The Kurdish official accused al-Sudaini’s government of imposing a ban on imported goods into Iraqi Kurdistan in order to “take away our autonomy and everything we have built over 30 years.” The autonomous Kurdish government is widely considered a strong pro-US ally.
Fighters from the Iran-backed Shia group celebrate on a street following an IRGC attack on Israel in Basra, Iraq, on October 1, 2024. (Essam al-Sudani/Reuters)
The Iraqi official denied the sanctions, saying, “The federal government does not pursue a policy of ‘sanctions’ against the Kurdistan Region. The current measures are aimed at unifying the legal, customs and trade framework at all Iraqi borders in line with the federal constitution.”
“No country can afford contradictory internal trade and customs arrangements, as this risks damaging the entire national economy. Our objective is an integrated, fair economic framework that protects state revenues while respecting the specificities of the region, and we believe this can be best achieved through dialogue and cooperation.”
Smoke rises from the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Ali Jabar/AP Photo)
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Antifad Qanbar, a former spokesman for Iraq’s deputy prime minister, told Fox News Digital that “One could also describe the PMF as the Iraqi branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, effectively functioning as the Iraqi Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The PMF operates through a network of militias that frequently attack US forces, foreign interests, and targets in Kurdistan.”
He argued that “the parent organization – the PMF itself – should be dismantled. As long as the PMF exists, the militias operating under its umbrella will continue to attack US forces and regional targets.”
Fox News Digital reporter Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.
