Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) condemned in a statement on Monday the US airstrikes in Iraq targeting the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, saying that the Iran-backed militias “reserve their right to respond and retaliate.”
The statement described the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias, which the Kataib Hezbollah militia is a part of, as “sacred” and “one of the most devoted forces of the Islamic Resistance Front.”
The “Resistance Front” is a term used by Iran to refer to allies of the Islamic Republic and its proxies across the world.
The US military carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, US officials said.
Iraqi security and militia sources said at least 25 militia fighters were killed and at least 55 wounded following three US airstrikes in Iraq on Sunday.
“The PMU militias reserve the right to retaliate and respond to the Americans’ latest great crime,” said the IRGC statement.
“Expelling the terrorist, occupying American forces” from Iraq will bring “lasting stability and security” to the country, according to the statement.
The US airstrikes “are a violation of Iraq’s national sovereignty and showed once again that America is the main cause of insecurity, chaos and tension in the region,” the statement added.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi also condemned the US airstrikes on Monday, calling them “a clear example of terrorism,” while Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the attacks are “unacceptable.”
