Iraq agrees to Iran request for joint probe into drone launch sites

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi on Saturday approved a request by Iran to conduct a joint investigation into the discovery of drone launch platforms near the border between the two countries.

The announcement came in a statement by Sabah Al-Numan, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The statement did not provide further details regarding where the drones were found or how many there were.

The development comes as Baghdad has stepped up security measures following drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, after the Iraqi government said it had confirmed that the attacks were launched from a site in Maysan province, which borders Iran.

In a related development, al-Zaidi ordered the dismissal of the Maysan Operations commander and the formation of an investigative committee into the operations command, before taking further measures that included changes and investigations involving security officials in the province.

Iraqi authorities also took security and legal measures at several border crossings on Saturday, including the temporary closure of some crossings and stepped-up intelligence, investigation and screening efforts over breaches and violations detected by the authorities.

Saudi Arabia said Friday that the East-West oil pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions had been targeted by drone attacks that it said originated from Iraq, causing injuries and some damage.

Riyadh said it had decided, at the request of the Iraqi prime minister, not to respond "at this stage" to give Baghdad an opportunity to take measures to prevent attacks from being launched from its territory toward Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries.

It stressed, however, that it reserved the right to take necessary measures to protect its security and sovereignty.

Saudi Arabia had previously accused Iraq in July of allowing drones to be launched from its territory in an attempt to target oil facilities in the kingdom.

Baghdad said at the time that it had launched an investigation and reaffirmed its rejection of the use of Iraqi territory as a launch point for attacks against neighboring countries.