Iraqi lawmakers warn Israel against attacking Iran

Jul 8, 2009, 8:45 GMT

Baghdad - The use of Iraqi airspace by Israeli warplanes attacking Iran would be considered 'an attack against Iraq,' a senior member of Iraq's parliament said on Wednesday.

'Any penetration of Iraqi airspace by an Israeli national would be considered an attack against Iraq,' Hassan al-Sanid, a member of Iraq's parliamentary committee on security and defence, said in remarks carried in the Baghdad daily al-Sabbah.

Speculation about an Israeli air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities had died down in recent months, but the possibility has returned to public discussion following the unrest surrounding Iran's June presidential elections.

'With no other timely option, the already compelling logic for an Israeli strike is nearly inexorable,' former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton argued in the Washington Post on July 2.

Saudi Arabia earlier this week vigorously denied rumours that it had struck a deal with the Israelis to allow use of the kingdom's airspace for such a strike.

'Iraq would use all political, legal, diplomatic and security measures' to protest Israeli use of Iraqi airspace in any hypothetical attack against Iran, al-Sanid said. 'International law ensures the integrity of states and their control over their territory and airspace. We would view any violation of this law in that context.'

'The Zionist Entity (Israel) cannot take advantage of the presence of US forces in Iraq' to fly over Iraq in a hypothetical strike against Iran, said Mohammed Naji, a member of parliament with the ruling United Iraqi Alliance. 'The (US-Iraqi) security agreement guarantees the sovereignty of Iraqi airspace.'

Ahead of the US withdrawal from Iraqi cities and towns on June 30, US military commanders said they would continue to provide security for Iraq's borders and airspace after the partial US withdrawal.

'Any penetration of Iraqi airspace by Israeli fighter jets or other planes will be addressed by Iraqi forces,' Naji said. 'Iraq has full sovereignty over its lands, waters and skies. Iraqis will not allow the Entity to benefit in any way from its land, territorial waters or airspace to attack a neighbour.'

'The constitution holds that Iraq shall not be a platform for military operations against neighboring countries,' he added. 'Iraq adheres to international principles and has opened a new page of close relations in its dealings with its neighbors, especially Iran.'

Any use of Iraqi airspace to attack its neighbour would herald 'a state of war between the two countries, which would negatively affect the general situation,' Naji concluded.