ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) on Saturday accused the US of over 170 airspace violations since its withdrawal from the country on September 30, calling on Baghdad to be transparent over the alleged incursions.

The IRI said that 171 airspace violations were recorded since the withdrawal of the anti-Islamic State (ISIS) Global Coalition on September 30 until October 23, carried out by fighter and reconnaissance aircraft.

“The American enemy continues to violate Iraqi sovereignty and renege on its declared commitments to the government,” the IRI added, calling on Baghdad “to be transparent with the Iraqi people.”

The September 30 withdrawal came after years of cooperation between the coalition and Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the fight against ISIS. The US Defense Department said it would continue providing target training and intelligence support following the withdrawal.

While congratulating people on the withdrawal day, which Iraq dubbed “Sovereignty Day,” the IRI took credit for “the humiliating departure of the American occupier under the blows of the Resistance's drones and missiles.”

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is an umbrella network of Iran-aligned Iraqi Shiite militias linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It has launched hundreds of drones and missiles at US interests in Iraq and across the region since the onset of the US-Iran war in February.

The militias’ attacks were especially concentrated in the Kurdistan Region. In addition to targeting US diplomatic missions and military sites, the groups claimed responsibility for attacks on residential areas, hotels, and bases belonging to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

The IRI claimed that Iraq’s recent border closure with Iran is also “dictated by American will.”

On Wednesday, Iraq’s border ports authority said the country’s land crossings on the border with Iran are currently undergoing “rehabilitation works,” following international reports that the crossings were closed under pressure from Washington.

“How can one speak of the sovereignty of a state whose decisions are imposed from abroad, thus entrenching American hegemony and strengthening its influence at the expense of national independence?” the IRI stressed.

A border authority source told AFP on Wednesday that “the US Treasury Department discussed this with [Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi] when he was in New York,” for the UN General Assembly in September.

“The United States has asked all countries bordering Iran to do the same,” a second source said.

Iraq closed the Shib and Basra’s Shalamcheh crossings with Iran in September as well, after drones were allegedly launched towards Saudi Arabia from Iraqi territory, prompting a probe.

Iraq and Iran share a 1,599 km border line and there are nine official border crossings linking Iran to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.