Iraqi airspace: an active corridor in escalating Israel-Iran conflict

Shafaq News

13 hours ago

Shafaq News/ The military confrontation between Israel and Iran has turned Iraqi airspace into a dangerous transit zone for missiles and warplanes from both sides, exposing the country's skies to unprecedented activity in the absence of a modern air defense system.
Security sources told Shafaq News that Israeli warplanes crossed into Iraqi airspace through several flight paths to carry out missile strikes deep inside Iranian territory, including strategic sites in and around Tehran.
In response, Iran launched multiple waves of long-range ballistic missiles toward Israel, several of which were detected passing through Iraqi skies. These missile trajectories spanned various regions across the country.
The heavy use of Iraqi airspace led to debris from intercepted or malfunctioning missiles falling over populated areas.
Shafaq News correspondent reported that a missile fuel tank landed on a residential home in al-Husseiniyah, north of Baghdad, causing material damage but no casualties. Additional missile fragments were also reported in western Iraq.
Residents in Baghdad, Babil, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Saladin reported hearing loud explosions and the sound of missiles flying overhead during the overnight hours.
A security source described the situation as a de facto transformation of Iraqi skies into an active missile corridor. "There is a state of heightened security alert, but Iraq currently lacks the practical means to intercept or neutralize such threats," the source said, noting that the country still does not possess a modern air defense system or an integrated network to safeguard its airspace from regional conflict spillovers.
While the Iraqi government has shut down civilian air traffic as a precautionary measure, military flights and missile traffic through Iraqi airspace have persisted.
On Friday evening, security sources confirmed that Iranian missiles and drones heading toward Israel were intercepted over Iraq and Syria. In one incident, a missile fell on farmland along the road connecting Najaf and Karbala after being intercepted, sparking a fire that was extinguished by Najaf's civil defense teams.
A source familiar with the matter told Shafaq News that US forces played a role in intercepting Iranian projectiles bound for Israel, and the missile that fell in Najaf may have been among those targeted by American defense systems.
In southern Iraq, two drone incidents were reported on Saturday in Dhi Qar province. A security source said that one drone crashed in a desert area near al-Hamaira in Qalaat Sukkar district, while another crashed in a nearby agricultural zone known as Umm al-Qata'. Both areas are located in the northern part of the province.
Security forces retrieved the wreckage from both crash sites for analysis. Preliminary reports suggest that one of the drones may have been the Iranian-made 'Arash' model, known for its long-range capabilities.