Iraq to summon Iranian ambassador to protest attacks

By Yassin Aydi

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraq plans to summon the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad on Thursday to protest Iranian attacks on the country’s Kurdish region.

Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said the envoy will be handed a note of protest over Iranian strikes in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.

“Our duty is to defend Iraq’s sovereignty, citizens and territory by all means,” he added in statements carried by the state news agency INA.

Earlier Wednesday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry termed Iranian drone and artillery strikes in the country’s Kurdish region as a “dangerous development that threatens Iraq’s security and sovereignty.”

“These unilateral provocative acts complicate the security situation, cast a pale on the region and contribute to increasing tension,” the ministry said in a statement.

According to Iranian media, Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard unleashed a wave of drone and artillery strikes targeting what Tehran says are bases of armed groups in northern Iraq.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report