Rockets Strike Near US Embassy in Baghdad, First Attack in Over Two Years

Multiple rockets were fired at the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Saturday evening, marking the first such assault in more than two years. Iraqi defense systems intercepted at least one projectile and no American casualties were reported, according to security officials.

Multiple rockets were launched toward the United States Embassy compound in Baghdad on Saturday evening, with warning sirens blaring across the area, according to security officials and eyewitnesses.

This marks the first assault on the embassy facility in more than two years. The most recent previous incident occurred in late 2023, when approximately seven mortar shells struck the compound during a series of coordinated attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups against American facilities in Iraq and Syria, stemming from Washington’s backing of Israel during its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

Witnesses reported hearing explosions in the vicinity of the embassy located in central Baghdad at approximately 9 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), followed by emergency sirens instructing residents to seek shelter.

According to a high-ranking Iraqi security official speaking to Reuters, the compound’s C-RAM defense system successfully intercepted one of the incoming rockets, with none of the projectiles breaching the embassy perimeter. The official confirmed no American personnel were harmed in the incident.

This assault suggests that Iranian-backed Iraqi militia organizations — who have pledged to seek revenge for the death of Iran’s supreme leader — have expanded their scope of operations beyond targeting US military installations in Iraqi Kurdistan and American energy facilities to now encompass the US Embassy.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has directed security personnel to locate and apprehend those responsible for launching the projectiles. In an official statement from his office, al-Sudani described the perpetrators as “rogue groups operating outside the law that do not represent the will of the Iraqi people.”