Iraqi pro-Iran militia threatens escalation if Blinken visits Baghdad

Iraq's pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollah militia has threatened US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken amid reports that the diplomat would visit the country on Sunday.

Blinken, "son of a Jew, and the Zionist minister of war," was not welcome in Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah spokesman Abu Ali al-Askari said in a statement.

"And if he comes, we will meet him with an unprecedented escalation," the statement added.

Iraqi website Shafaq News reported that Blinken was scheduled to visit Iraq on Sunday to meet with Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. There was no official confirmation of this from the US or Iraqi side.

Al-Askari also said the militia would work to counter US interests in Iraq and prevent US citizens from travelling to the country if the aggression on Gaza continues.

The withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq is "inevitable," he said.

Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq have repeatedly claimed hitting US bases inside Iraq and Syria with drones and missiles in retaliation for the Israeli attacks on Gaza.