Iraq's Islamic Resistance Warns It May Join Fight If U.S. Escalates Iran Attacks

According to Lianhe Zaobao citing Xinhua, Iraq's Iran-backed militia group Islamic Resistance warned on Monday, July 20, that it would directly join the fight against the United States if Washington further expands its aggression against Iran. The group said it would strike all U.S. interests and military bases in Iraq and across the Middle East if the U.S. broadens its military attacks on Iran, while also clarifying that it had not launched any attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq or the Middle East in the past few days. The U.S. Central Command said a U.S. service member died on Saturday, July 18, in northern Iraq while carrying out a mission related to Iran. It said U.S. forces were conducting a controlled detonation of munitions carried by a downed Iranian one-way attack drone when the person died, and that another service member was lightly wounded. Since the outbreak of the Iran-Israel conflict at the end of February, the United States and Israel have repeatedly struck Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups, while the militias have carried out a series of attacks on the U.S. embassy in Iraq, bases hosting U.S. troops in Iraq, and other U.S. facilities.