KNOWING YOUR ALLIES:

As Iran warns of a possible cross-border ground operation into Iraqi Kurdistan, an armed faction operating within Iraq has called for Iran-linked armed groups across the region to take the fight to the Saudi capital.

As reported by local media outlets, Kataib Hezbollah issued a statement this week saying, "The optimal solution to deal with the Saudi entity is to establish an alliance from the countries affected by its criminal deeds to transfer the conflicts into the streets of Riyadh." [...]

Kataib Hezbollah is an Iran-linked Iraqi armed group that includes a political wing part of the Coordination Framework alliance now in government. It is suspected of involvement in targeting Saudi Arabia via drone attacks in recent years. An Iraqi group that calls itself Alwiya al-Waad al-Haq claimed responsibility for a drone attack against the Saudi capital in early 2021, saying it had been conducted "solely by Iraqi hands." Many claim this group is linked to Kataib Hezbollah.

According to a 2021 Washington Institute policy analysis, "Iran-backed militias have twice assisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in launching small explosive-laden delta-wing drones from Iraq into Saudi Arabia at ranges of 600-700 kilometers [373-435 miles] -- first in May 2019 against the East-West oil pipeline, and again that September against the Abqaiq oil processing plant."

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