Rocket hits near US embassy in Baghdad, say security sources

One rocket hit near the US embassy inBaghdadearly Tuesday morning, news agency AFP reported quoting security sources.

The blast did not cause any casualties butcould be heard across the Iraqi capital and triggered security sirens at the US embassy compound, the report said quoting the same sources.

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No group claimed responsibility for the attack immediatly.

This is the first rocket to land in the high-security zone in weeks. It follows more than two dozen similar attacks against American interests in Iraq since October that the US has blamed on Iran-backed factions among Iraq's security forces.

The volleys of rockets, which have killed US, British and Iraqi armed personnel, have severely strained ties betweenBaghdadand Washington.

Tensions reached boiling point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike onBaghdad.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US "will not be staying either in Iraq or Syria and must withdraw and will certainly be expelled".

The US-led coalition has already drawn down its 7,500-strong force in Iraq this year, citing a decreased threat from IS and difficulties training Iraqi forces due to the spread of the coronavirus.