Iraqi Deputy PM Hussein al-Shahristani issued a statement today warning Israel against violating their airspace during any future attacks on Iran, saying that they would face “consequences” if they did so.
Shahristani also claimed his government had received “assurances” from the US that they would never use Iraqi airspace for attacks on any of Iraq’s neighbors, which presumably came after the 2008 attack on Syria.
It’s the first time Iraq has specifically warned Israel about this, but in practice there seems to be little they can do about it, since Iraq doesn’t have significant air defenses and has essentially no air force since the US occupation.
Still, past speculation on an Israeli attack has focused on the idea of the warplanes going around Iraq in one way or another, usually using Saudi Arabia or sometimes a northern route through Azerbaijan. Any route would be difficult, however, and Israeli officials have made it clear that their preference is for the US to do the attacking for them.
