Mourners carry the bodies of members of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP) /
An Iraqi government spokesperson said Thursday that the country did not approve the deadly US-Saudi strikes against Iran-backed militants on its territory, after Washington claimed they were coordinated with Baghdad.
“The government did not have any knowledge” of the strikes and “did not approve any attacks on specific sites or groups in Iraq,” spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said on state TV.
