Iraq parliament to hold closed session after Iran, Turkey strikes

The Iraqi parliament is set to hold a closed session to discuss preserving the country's sovereignty after repeated Iranian and Turkish strikes on its territories.

Turkey bombed Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as neighbouring Syria, on Sunday, striking at Kurdish militants based in the north of the country. Tehran on Monday attacked Iranian Kurdish opposition factions in the same region of Iraq.

Suspected Iranian drone strikes targeted a Kurdish opposition group in Iraq on Tuesday, a spokesman for the group and two security officials said.

Mahdi Taqi Amerliy, the deputy head of the Baghdad-based Iraqi parliament's security and defence committee, confirmed Tuesday before additional strikes were reported that day that parliament will hold a session.

"This session will be closed and confidential and the public and media were not informed about it to prevent any leaks of security or military information," he told The New Arab's Arabic sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

"The Council of Representatives [parliament] intends to issue during today's session a number of parliamentary decisions and recommendations addressed to the Iraqi government... in order to implement them with the aim of preserving Iraq's sovereignty and preventing the recurrence of any attacks anywhere on Iraqi territory from any party and for any reason and pretext", Amerliy said.

MPs were "determined" to enact recommendations that bind the government, in a session that will be attended by military leaders.

Many Iraqis are sceptical about the measures being taken by parliament in response to the attacks.

Nearly 25 strikes hit Raqqa, Hasakah and Aleppo provinces, killing 18 members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, 12 members of the Syrian regime's military and one journalist, according to the @syriahr 👇https://t.co/tP0E6Erz9X

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 20, 2022

"Preserving Iraq's sovereignty and preventing any external aggression on Iraqi territory does not need discussions or meetings, but rather serious government decisions that stop such attacks from any country and for any reason," analyst Ahmed Al-Sharifi said. "But in reality, nothing will change."

Iraq on Monday condemned Iranian and Turkish attacks on its Kurdistan region, state news agency INA reported, citing a foreign ministry statement.

AFP and Reuters contributed to this report.