Antigua and Barbuda’s Foreign Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene has condemned the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq that occurred on December 31st, 2019.
Three rockets landed inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, home to the US Embassy and the seat of Iraq’s government.
Alert sirens were sounded in the area on the west bank of the Tigris River.
“The Government of Antigua and Barbuda condemns the attack on the US Embassy in Iraq in the same way that we condemned the siege of the Mexican Embassy by Bolivian security forces in Bolivia in the week of December 21st,” Greene said through a release.
Greene cited the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by which host governments are obliged to protect diplomatic missions and accredited diplomats against any intrusion or damage.
The attack came shortly after the deadline from a hardline pro-Iran faction for local troops to get away from US forces, following the US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and a high-ranking Iraqi militia leader.
Sunday’s attack marks the 14th time rockets have been fired toward US installations in Iraq over the last two months.
“International peace and security are safeguarded only when nations uphold the principles of international law. In this context, the attack on the U.S. Embassy is totally unacceptable as was the siege of the Mexican Embassy in Bolivia. In both these cases, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda hold the perpetrators of these violations accountable for their actions and calls on the governments concerned to fulfil their duty under international law by preserving the security of Embassies and diplomats,” the minister said.
Mister Greene added: As a small country, Antigua and Barbuda lives by international law and rules. We will stand up and be counted, without fear or favour, wherever and whenever they are violated.”