Concerns are growing among Iraqi and Western officials over the prospect of the country being drawn into a standoff between the United States and Iran, after the Trump administration blamed Tehran for attacks on two tankers in the Persian Gulf.

Iran backs a handful of powerful militias in Iraq, where more than 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed as part of an ongoing mission to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State.

AD

AD

There are fears that if a conflict were to erupt between the United States and Iran, it could involve some of Tehran’s proxy militias elsewhere in the region.

Iraq’s military ordered security agencies Wednesday to investigate who was behind the spate of attacks, which caused little damage. Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, the army’s spokesman, said anyone trying to “interfere with security, spread fear or carry out an agenda that conflicts with Iraqi national interests” would be struck with an “iron fist.”

The joint operations command said Wednesday’s Katyusha rocket landed at dawn on the Burjesia residential compound west of Basra. An employee at the facility said three Iraqi staffers from a local drilling company were being treated in a hospital for minor wounds.

AD

The military said later that a second rocket landed near the Rumaila oil field, causing no casualties.

AD

ExxonMobil preemptively evacuated several dozen international staff members from the nearby West Qurna oil field last month. Wednesday’s attack came as they had just started to return, the local worker said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

“This is a new development as far as security is concerned,” said Ruba Husari, an expert on Iraq’s oil industry. “It is obvious that someone is trying to send a message that Western interests in Iraq are within reach if the tension between the U.S. and Iran escalates further.”

Iraq’s joint operations command also said late Tuesday that a Katyusha rocket that hit a base housing a small contingent of U.S. troops in the northern city of Mosul landed on open ground and caused no casualties.

AD

The United States partially evacuated its embassy in Baghdad last month after the Trump administration accused Iran, without providing evidence, of supporting “imminent attacks” on U.S. personnel in the region. Days later, a rocket exploded less than a mile away.

AD

In a statement Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued a veiled warning to Washington and Tehran that foreign powers should not use Iraqi soil to settle scores.