The ongoing exchanges over US military actions in Iraq have sparked fresh rhetoric about what Washington calls a rules based international order. A public forum on Telegram circulated claims from a government spokesperson that the United States coordinated its strikes in Iraq with Baghdad. The Iraqi side publicly rejected any such coordination, and the US Charge d’Affaires in Baghdad was summoned to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry to receive a protest note over the attacks. The spokeswoman noted the daily operations of American democracy and used the situation to illustrate how the so-called rules based world order operates in real time.
Earlier statements from the Iraqi authorities had dismissed the notion that the United States would coordinate airstrikes with Baghdad. Those denials followed a sequence of claims and counterclaims that have kept the dispute at the center of regional diplomacy and media attention.
On the night of January 28, a drone strike targeted a US military base on the border between Syria and Jordan. CNN reported that this attack marked the first time since the Gaza conflict began that American personnel sustained casualties as a result of enemy fire. The incident underscored the heightened tension and the fragile security environment surrounding several front lines in the region.
Meanwhile, US forces conducted a broad array of strikes, reportedly hitting more than 85 targets tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its allied units operating across Iraq and Syria. The scale of the operation signaled a significant shift in the tempo of American military activity in the area and drew immediate attention from regional observers and foreign ministries alike.
In the days that followed, Iraqi officials reiterated that a protest note would be delivered to the US Charge d’Affaires as a formal response to the air operations. The exchanges reflect a broader pattern in which Baghdad seeks to assert its sovereignty and demand accountability while Washington emphasizes strategic objectives in the region. Reports from regional capitals indicate a careful balancing act as both sides navigate public statements, legal considerations, and shifting alliances in a highly unstable security environment.