Above photo: Shafaq.
Deadly air raids against the country have not stopped since the Iraqi resistance began striking US targets in response to the war on Iran.
A top commander in the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and over a dozen others were killed in US airstrikes on Iraq overnight, marking yet another escalation by Washington and Tel Aviv against the country.
🚨⚡️A suspected airstrike on the headquarters of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Anbar province early Monday k*lled the group’s top operations commander in the province and an intelligence officer, and injured several others.#Iran pic.twitter.com/LuthZKCOMe
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) March 24, 2026
The US strikes hit a headquarters and killed at least 15 fighters as well as PMU operations commander in Anbar province, Saad al-Bayji.
“In a blatant and cowardly attack, the commander of the Anbar Operations in the Popular Mobilization Forces, Saad Dua al-Bayji, was martyred along with a group of his heroic comrades following a treacherous American airstrike that targeted the command headquarters while they were performing their national duty,” the PMU said in a statement on 24 March.
It added that “the martyrs’ blood will not be in vain,” while holding the Iraqi government “fully responsible for confronting these repeated American violations and taking clear and resolute positions to preserve the country’s sovereignty and put an end to these grave transgressions.”
A funeral was held for the commander and the 15 fighters in Baghdad on Tuesday, coinciding with more airstrikes on PMU offices in Mosul.
The deadly attacks come just two days after the Iraqi resistance targeted the US Victoria Base near Baghdad airport in at least eight separate rocket and drone strikes.
The US Victoria Base – located near Baghdad airport – has come under continuous attacks by the Iraqi resistance since the start of Washington and Tel Aviv’s brutal war against Iran. The site serves as a US military logistical center.
Footage from after an Iraqi resistance operation last week showed the US Victoria Base engulfed in large flames from an earlier attack.
Other targets which have come under heavy attack by the Iraqi resistance include Washington’s Harir Base and the US Embassy compound in Baghdad.
Deadly air raids against Iraq have been ongoing since the Iraqi resistance intervened in the war and began striking US targets in response to the brutal US-Israeli campaign against Iran.
Saudi Arabia, UAE ‘inching toward’ joining US-Israeli war on Iran
Western media has also reported that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is lobbying Washington against ending the war on Iran.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other Gulf governments are considering joining the US-Israeli war on Iran directly, hoping they can establish “deterrence” and “punish” Tehran after its heavy retaliatory strikes on Washington’s military bases in regional states, sources told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on 23 March.
“The leaders of Gulf states, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are pressing [US President Donald] Trump in regular phone conversations to finish the job and destroy Iran’s military capabilities before moving on,” Arab officials said to WSJ.
“The moves also are convincing Arab states they might need to deliver some punishment to re-establish deterrence,” other sources said.
“The Gulf states are unified in their anger with Iran,” the officials went on to say, “But they are also angry at the realization they aren’t able to exert much influence on the Trump administration’s decisions despite being security partners and investing heavily in the relationship,” they added.
Sources also said Riyadh has “recently agreed to let American forces use its King Fahd Air Base on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula,” confirming a recent Middle East Eye (MEE) report which said the same thing.
“Mohammed bin Salman is now eager to re-establish deterrence and is close to a decision to join the attacks. It is only a matter of time before the kingdom enters the war,” WSJ’s sources said.
A new report by the New York Times (NYT) has also said that Saudi Arabia is lobbying Washington against ending the war on Iran. According to a report, the crown prince is pushing for regime change in the Islamic Republic, has signaled support for strikes on Tehran’s energy infrastructure, and is even advocating for a US ground invasion.
Gulf states have used increasingly tough rhetoric since Iran’s retaliation began. “Saudi Arabia’s patience with Iranian attacks is not unlimited. Any belief that Gulf countries are incapable of responding is a miscalculation,” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said last week.
Yet Oman, the leading mediator between Tehran and Washington, has maintained positive ties with Iran.
“Whatever your view of Iran, this war is not of their making,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidy said this week. “This is already causing widespread economic problems, and I fear they promise to get much worse if the war continues. Oman is working intensively to put in place safe passage arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
Last week, Al-Busaidy wrote in The Economist that Iran’s “retaliation against what it claims are American targets on the territory of its neighbors was an inevitable, if deeply regrettable and completely unacceptable, result.”
“Faced with what both Israel and America described as a war designed to terminate the Islamic Republic, this was probably the only rational option available to the Iranian leadership,” he said.
Tehran has continued its massive and unprecedented campaign of retaliatory strikes on Israel as well as US military assets across the region. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to Washington and its allies, and has targeted vessels that attempt to cross in violation of its warnings.
Among the US military targets that have been battered by Iranian drone and missile attacks is the Fifth Fleet Base in Bahrain.
Iranian forces struck several major energy facilities across the Gulf last week: the Ras Laffan site in Qatar, Habshan Gas Facility in the UAE, and SAMREF Refinery in Saudi Arabia – responding to a US-Israeli attack on its South Pars Gas Field.
US-Israeli strikes reportedly targeted a major power site in Isfahan on 23 March, after the expiry of Trump’s 48-hour deadline. Damage was said to have taken place, although the aftermath of the attack is not entirely clear.
Iran has vowed that major attacks on its power and energy infrastructure will be met with the destruction of all US and Israeli-linked oil and gas in the region.
