A leaked document revealed that Iraq agreed to the entry of 3 drones into its airspace on the night of the assassination of the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Authority, early this year near Baghdad airport, west of the Iraqi capital.

The leak of the document entitled "Air Strike", issued on 3/1/2020 by the Air Defense Command and sent to the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army, comes a day after media statements by former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi criticizing Iraqi officials' lack of scrutiny of the nature of the flights of aircraft that enter The country's airspace and its tasks, stressing that there is Iraqi approval to enter the drone that targeted Soleimani and the engineer in Baghdad.

Al-Abadi demanded an investigation into the case and verification of the authenticity of his statements, without specifying who gave the American plane approval to enter Iraqi airspace, but he clearly hinted at former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

Abdul Mahdi denied in a statement granting any approvals for the American side to target Soleimani and the engineer (Al-Jazeera)

Negation

The media office of Abdul Mahdi swiftly denied granting approvals to the American side to target Soleimani and the engineer categorically, noting that during a meeting of the National Security Council on 15/8/2019, he decided to cancel all flight approvals in Iraqi airspace for all Iraqi and non-Iraqi parties and limit the approvals to the commander's hand General of the armed forces exclusively or whoever authorized him fundamentally.

Abdul Mahdi confirmed - according to his office statement - that what was mentioned above before the airport operation was mentioned in his public speech before the House of Representatives on 1/5/2020.

He added, "American planes began roaming the airspace of Baghdad without permission from the Iraqi government, and the government began to receive requests to bring in more American soldiers to protect the American bases and embassy, ​​to enter the no-fly zones, and to provide the American side with air frequencies and signals, which is what the Iraqi government refused to give approvals."

"I reiterated to the American military and political leaders that Iraq will not accept except on the foundations for which the forces came and for joint actions, and it will not accept any decision or unilateral action," Al-Abadi said.

He pointed out that the message of the Commander of the Coalition Forces, Lieutenant General Robert Pat White, in this regard, on January 2, 2020, came a few hours before the assassination, so when, how, and by whom were the approvals issued?

To say that "the plane that targeted Soleimani and the engineer near the airport obtained Iraqi approval."

He asked, "Have official confirmations been issued by the concerned parties confirming the aircraft, its number, type, routes, objectives and what it carries, as necessary, so that we can talk about granting approvals, whatever they are?"

Abdul-Mahdi considered that "these are sensitive topics that affect the supreme interests of the country. They should not be neglected on the one hand and transformed intentionally or unintentionally into verbal speculations on the other hand, so that the blood of the martyrs is wasted, the papers are mixed up, and the threads of the issue are lost," as he put it.

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. A statement from the media office of Mr. Adel Abdul Mahdi, former Prime Minister.

The Media Office denies ...

Posted by Adil Abd Al-Mahdi on Friday, 11 December 2020

This comes at a time when the Al-Fateh Alliance, led by Hadi Al-Amiri, called on the competent judicial and security authorities to investigate Al-Abadi about his statements.

"The Iraqi approval was for the entry of the American plane, and not the approval of the assassination," said the leader of the coalition, Muin Al-Kazemi, in a press statement, noting that "the American side violated Iraqi sovereignty and international law."

He stressed the need for the House of Representatives to investigate Al-Abadi about his statement.