TEHRAN - Iran on Thursday denounced the American assassination of a senior Iraqi commander in the fight against terrorism and some other fellow resistance fighters against terrorists, calling the move a “terrorist act” by the U.S. administration “inside Iraq.”

The assassination of Abu Baqir al-Saadi, a senior commander of the fight against terrorism and Daesh, and others is “a clear example of American state terrorism”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Thursday.

The US military admitted responsibility for a drone strike in Baghdad on Wednesday night, which killed three people, including the senior commander of Iraq's Kata'ib Hezbollah resistance group,

Kanaani said the assassination is a "violation of national sovereignty" and "territorial integrity of Iraq" and against international law and regulations, Press TV reported.

“The aggressive act of the terrorist CENTCOM forces in Baghdad was carried out in line with the continuation of the full support of the American government for the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed people of Palestine,” he said.

The spokesman extended his condolences to the Iraqi nation and government and the families of those assassinated in the attack.

 The attack came nearly a week after the United States carried out a flurry of airstrikes across Iraq and neighboring Syria, killing nearly 40 people.  

Kanaani said the continuation of “such adventures” by the US is a threat to regional and international peace and security.

He underlined the responsibility of the international community as well as the United Nations Security Council in preventing illegal and unilateral actions and attacks by the United States in the region and staving off the expansion of crisis and instability.

Resistance groups condemn assassination of Kata’ib Hezbollah commander

Several resistance groups in West Asia have condemned the US assassination of the Kata’ib Hezbollah anti-terror group.

In a statement, Kata’ib Hezbollah Secretary-General of Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi extended congratulations and condolences to Saadi’s family and comrades as well as the Muslim Ummah and the Iraqi people over the commander’s martyrdom.

The assassination of Saadi “calls us to remain steadfast in the jihadist approach,” he noted, referring to the endeavor for the sake of God.

The Palestinian Hamas resistance group also strongly condemned the brutal US aggression on Iraq.

“We consider this to be a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and security, done on behalf of the Zionist occupation’s agenda and its expansionist projects,” it added.

Hamas further held the Biden administration responsible for the escalation of tensions in the region through its supply of arms and support for Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“The region will not witness stability or peace except through an end to the Zionist occupation of our Palestinian and Arab lands,” it asserted.

Similarly, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement denounced the US-targeted killing of the anti-terror commander.

The US administration had adopted an aggressive approach in a bid to “incite conflict in the region, [as well as] protect the Zionist entity and support the war of extermination” against the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s popular Ansarullah resistance movement condemned the “treacherous” and “cowardly” US criminal attack in Baghdad, saying it “comes in the context of American support for the Zionist entity.”

The assassination of Saadi is tantamount to “an aggression against the entire Iraqi people” and shows “the effectiveness of the strikes of the Iraqi resistance in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” it emphasized.

“The American presence in Iraq and the region is a major reason for destabilizing security and stability.”

Tensions have ratcheted up in West Asia due to the United States’ support for Israel’s bloody onslaught on Gaza, which has killed at least 27,708 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 67,174 others over the past four months.

Resistance groups, in retaliation, have launched attacks on bases housing US occupation forces in Iraq and Syria. Yemeni armed forces have also launched a pro-Palestine maritime campaign, targeting Israel-bound or affiliated ships, in the southern Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and even the Arabian Sea.