Iran summons Swiss envoy to protest Trump’s 'baseless' Iraq remarks
Iran has summoned the Swiss envoy, whose country represents US interests in Tehran, to protest US President Donald Trump’s accusations blaming Iran for an attack on occupying American forces in Iraq.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Saturday that Markus Leitner was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry a day earlier to be informed of Iran’s “severe protest” over the remarks.
Mousavi said Washington’s destructive policies and its role in current tensions were discussed during the meeting where Iran warned the Americans against any “unwise” actions.
“Trump can’t deny his responsibility by making such baseless and dangerous accusations” against Iran, he added.
On Thursday, Trump claimed that a Wednesday rocket attack on US-led coalition troops at the Taji military base was carried out by attackers that “most likely looked like it could be backed by Iran.”
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack in which some 18 107mm Katyusha rockets struck the US-occupied camp which killed two Americans and one British soldier.
Following the incident, the US conducted several airstrikes which killed six members of the Iraqi army and police as well as a civilian.
The aggression against Iraqi's security forces have drawn broad condemnation among Iraq’s government officials and various political figures and parties. On Friday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned US and British ambassadors to Baghdad in protest.
Mousavi said, “The US should accept that it is despised among the Iraqi people due to its illegal presence in Iraq and its killing of Iraqi commanders and soldiers instead of blaming others.”
In January, the US assassinated Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad.
Iran responded to the assassination with a volley of ballistic missiles that left about 110 American troops with serious "brain injuries".
Iraqi resistance groups at the time pledged to exact their own revenge at a scale equal or stronger than Iran's, but they have denied responsibility for some sporadic rocket attacks on American military targets.
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