Iraqi PM delays Riyadh trip after US-Saudi strikes on Iran-backed Iraqi militia

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi has delayed a planned visit to Riyadh, according to a senior source at his office, after the US and Saudi Arabia launched deadly strikes on Iran-backed Iraqi militias overnight.

Al-Zaidi’s visit “has been postponed in light of today’s events,” the source told CNN on Wednesday, adding that the rescheduling “was requested by the Iraqi side.” The Iraqi prime minister was slated to travel to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for an official visit, the source said.

Washington and Riyadh launched strikes on multiple regions of Iraq’s northern and southern flanks on Wednesday, following attacks by Iran-backed armed groups on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. At least 20 people were killed and 32 wounded by the strikes, which hit “logistics and weapons sites,” according to the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iran-aligned Iraqi militia.

Those strikes have also roiled the wider region, casting fragile diplomatic pathways into disarray and hiking up oil prices.

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani vehemently condemned the strikes on Wednesday, warning against a “flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, a dangerous overstep of the principle of Islamic brotherhood” and a “clear breach of international law.”

-CNN