Iraq says Iran notified it of missile attack shortly after it began

The office of Iraq’s prime minister on Wednesday said that it was informed by Iran of attacks on multiple Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops just after the strikes had begun and that it was told the strikes would only be at locations where the U.S. military was present. 

Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s office told The Associated Press in a statement that Iran’s notice of the attacks made in response to the killing of a top Iranian official came at the same time as a warning from U.S. forces that multiple bases were under missile fire from Iranian forces.

Abdul-Mahdi’s office added that while Iraq “refuses any violation of its sovereignty and any attacks on its territory,” his government would do all it could to prevent a “devastating all-out war.”

No Iraqi or U.S. casualties have yet been reported following the missile strikes, which came as retaliation for the slaying of Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Quds Force, in a U.S. airstrike outside the Baghdad International Airport just days ago. Soleimani was in the country at the time for a meeting with Abdul-Mahdi.

A U.S. official told USA Today on Wednesday that U.S. forces were able to reach cover before the attacks hit thanks to an unspecified advance warning of the missile strikes.

“The early warning system worked,” said the unnamed official.