Baghdad warns Israel against using Iraq's airspace for Iran strike

  Iraq warned the Zionist regime on Monday against using its airspace to launch a strike against the Islamic Republic of Iran. "We have also warned Israel that if they violate Iraqi airspace, they will have to bear the consequences," said Hussein al-Shahristani, deputy prime minister responsible for energy affairs, AFP reported. He said that Iraq had received assurances from Washington that the United States would not use its airspace to attack Iran. "The (Americans) have assured us that they will never violate Iraqi airspace or Iraqi sovereignty by using our airspace to attack any of our neighbors," Shahristani said in an interview in his office in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone. The minister said that the issue had been discussed in Iraq's national security council, and the warning had been passed to Israel "through countries that they have relations with". Asked how Iraq would react to any such Israeli attempt to target Iran, Shahristani said, "Obviously, Iraq wouldn't be disclosing its reaction, to allow Israel to take that into account. " Shahristani also noted that a similar policy applied to the use of Iraq's airspace for any military action in neighboring Syria.