Because of this, Yar Allah conducted a field supervision and secured the area<\/a> of Al-Nukhib. This is a desert town basically in the middle of nowhere on Iraq\u2019s Route 22, which runs from Najaf to the Saudi border at Arar. \u201cIn the context of his ongoing field follow-up on various sectors, Mr. Chief of Staff of the Army, First Lieutenant General of Special Forces Staff Abdul Amir Rashid Yar Allah, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, conducted field oversight of the security measures for the Al-Nukhayb Desert within the responsibility sector of the 41st Brigade affiliated with the Karbala Sacred Operations Command, accompanied by his deputy for operations, the commander of ground forces, the director of military intelligence, and the director of the media cell, with the commander of the Karbala Sacred Operations and a number of General Staff officers receiving them,\u201d Iraq\u2019s Ministry of Defense said.<\/p>\n The report said that the general inspected a site of an \u201cincident\u201d to review a \u201ccriminal event.\u201d The report says he \u201cissued a series of directives and recommendations to the military units, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the highest levels of readiness and preparedness to confront various security challenges.\u201d He then \u201caffirmed the inaccuracy of what was circulated in some media outlets regarding the presence of unlicensed forces inside the Al-Nukhayb Desert, clarifying that those claims were not based on facts or field evidence, especially in light of the repercussions the region has witnessed related to the regional conflict during the recent period.\u201d<\/p>\n Iraq is saying that both nothing happened and that something happened<\/p>\n In essence, Iraq is saying that both nothing happened and that something happened. Iraq\u2019s army is now being told to \u201cdefend\u201d the desert and the homeland so that \u201cIraq will not be a launchpad or arena for aggression against neighboring countries.\u201d Meanwhile, Iraq\u2019s Defense Ministry also denied to Rudaw \u201cclaims that Israel had set up a \u2018clandestine military outpost\u2019 in a southern Iraq desert, describing the allegation as an exaggerated account of a single engagement that took place in early March.\u201d<\/p>\n Iraq\u2019s Major General Tahseen al-Khafaji, Director of Media and Moral Guidance at the ministry, said that \u201con March 3, we were alerted to the presence of armed individuals.\u201d Iraq says it deployed to the area on March 4, and there was an airstrike in which one Iraqi soldier was killed. \u201cKhafaji further noted that, while a small foreign force may have briefly established a presence in the area amid the broader regional conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, a follow-up Iraqi mission on March 5 found no evidence of any installation.\u201d Iraq claims \u201cthere was no base, no airstrip, nor any sign that any administrative or military work had been conducted there.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) walk as they enter their headquarters (credit: ALAA AL-MARJANI\/REUTERS)<\/p>\n The Iranian-backed militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, had launched their own operation alongside the army. They sent the 2nd Brigade, which is linked to Badr, an organization that is close to Iran\u2019s IRGC. This comes as Badr continues to pressure the Iraqi prime minister-designate Ali al-Zaydi. \u201c[Member of Parliament] Shaker Abu Turab Al-Tamimi, from the Badr parliamentary bloc, revealed on Tuesday that disagreements continue within the Coordination Framework forces regarding the distribution of ministries, warning that Prime Minister-designate Ali Al-Zidi will fail to form a government if he does not present his cabinet by next Thursday,\u201d Shafaq News said.<\/p>\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/170dba9ae61d09fa6187e9f6b5ec1f06.jpeg\"\/)
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