A Small US Airport At Northern Part Of Italian Embassy In Baghdad; How Could It Be!?

The recent flights of the United States’ helicopters from the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center or the US airbase at the Baghdad International Airport to the US embassy in Iraq as well as the helipad of US helicopters in the northern part of the Italian embassy in the capital city have been observed for some time in the skies of Baghdad. 

The flight records of these helicopters show that in addition to various US helicopters, including Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk, the American landing strip in the northern part of the Italian embassy in Baghdad also hosts light aircraft such as Beech A36 Bonanza. In a way, it can be said that this embassy has turned into another small airport for the United States in the Iraqi capital.

According to IWN field sources, senior US officials and forces were transferred from the Baghdad airport to the US embassy by car in recent months, but this process has changed in recent weeks due to Americans’ fear of being assassinated, identified, and so on. And their transfer operations from the US embassy to the Baghdad International Airport and vice versa are now carried out using helicopters, and their car trips have decreased in comparison to the past.

It is not yet clear why Americans have changed their method of transferring forces to the US embassy in Baghdad. In addition to the flights of the US helicopters inside their embassy and another helipad in the eastern part of the US embassy, the small American airport in the northern part of the Italian embassy is one of the main aerial routes for transporting people and equipment to/from Washington’s embassy and Baghdad airport.

Satellite images at different times also show various US helicopters stationed at this location. So far, Iraqi government officials and resistance groups’ commanders have not reacted to these movements by the Americans.

The continuation of these actions and the failure of American soldiers to leave Iraq have caused many people in this country to protest against the Iraqi authorities over the continuation of the United States’ military presence; on the contrary, Iraqi officials neglected the demands and even requested the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to increase their military activities in the Arab country.

However, in accordance with international law, no country is allowed to carry out military actions and reactions in the area of an embassy; so, it seems to be essential to answer the question of whether the US embassy in Baghdad is subject to diplomatic immunity as a result of such a situation or not.