Kataib Hezbollah issues ultimatum to Iraq: lift the “air blockade” on Iran or we will shoot down aircraft

Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Iraqi armed group, has called on the government in Baghdad to end what it describes as an “air blockade” imposed on Iran, warning that it will shoot down “hostile aircraft” violating Iraqi airspace, as Al Jazeera reports.

The group accused the Iraqi prime minister of bowing to American pressure and of allowing the closure of Iraqi airspace to Iranian aircraft since Thursday, while also accusing the United States of “besieging” Iran.

In a statement on Tuesday, Kataib Hezbollah set a deadline of Wednesday for its demands to be met, warning it would take “a series of measures” — including closing Iraq’s border crossings — if Baghdad fails to act.

The group also demanded the full withdrawal of the U.S.-led coalition from military bases in Iraq, in particular from the Ain al-Asad airbase and what it described as the “American operations room” in Erbil.