Macron said on the social media platform X that he had spoken with Iraq’s prime minister a day after the attack and welcomed Baghdad’s commitment to investigate the incident and strengthen protection for foreign forces stationed in the country.

“Yesterday, I spoke with the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani,” Macron wrote. “I thank him for his commitment to getting to the bottom of this attack and to strengthening measures to protect our forces, who are present in Iraq to fight, alongside the Iraqis, against the scourge of terrorism.”

French forces are deployed in Iraq as part of international efforts supporting Iraqi security forces in combating militant groups.

In a separate message on Saturday, Macron said France was ready to facilitate ceasefire discussions between Israel and Lebanon in Paris, signalling diplomatic engagement as tensions between Israel and the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah continue to escalate.

Macron said Lebanese leaders were open to direct discussions with Israel and urged Israel to “seize this opportunity to launch ceasefire discussions, to find a lasting solution and to allow the Lebanese authorities to put in place their engagements for Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

The French president called on Israel to halt its offensive and urged Hezbollah to stop its actions, warning that continued hostilities risk pushing Lebanon into deeper instability.

“Everything must be done to stop Lebanon from descending into chaos,” Macron said.

France has historically maintained close political and economic ties with Lebanon and has frequently positioned itself as a diplomatic intermediary in crises involving the Mediterranean state.

An AFP journalist reported hearing explosions followed by the sight of black smoke rising above the diplomatic complex in central Baghdad shortly after the blasts. Two security officials said the embassy compound was hit, although the precise cause remained unclear.

One security source said a drone had struck the complex, while another said a projectile believed to be a rocket had fallen within the diplomatic zone near the embassy’s air base. The U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The embassy incident occurred hours after overnight strikes targeted positions linked to Kataeb Hezbollah, a powerful militia group aligned with Iran. According to security sources, a missile struck a house used by the group at around 02:15 a.m. local time, killing what officials described as a “key figure” and wounding two other members.

Roughly two hours later, another airstrike hit a vehicle in eastern Baghdad, killing a member of the Popular Mobilization Forces, also known as Hashed al-Shaabi. A senior official within the organization told AFP the individual belonged to Kataeb Hezbollah.None of the sources identified who carried out the strikes, and the militia group has not publicly commented.

Iraq has long been an arena for rivalry between Washington and Tehran, with armed groups aligned with Iran maintaining a strong presence across the country. The situation has intensified since U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran on Feb.

28 triggered a broader regional conflict.Several Iran-backed factions operate under an umbrella movement known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The groups have claimed responsibility for repeated drone and rocket attacks targeting U.S. military facilities across the region.

Saturday’s incident marked the second reported attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad since the outbreak of the wider conflict.

Witnesses in the Arasat district of the capital said they heard multiple blasts followed by ambulance sirens and saw smoke rising above residential areas where several Iran-aligned groups maintain offices.

The ministry initially described the incident as a missile attack on the base but later said the strike appeared to involve a drone. Officials said the unmanned aircraft may have struck the facility accidentally after losing altitude rather than intentionally targeting the base.

“There are no casualties or injuries among the Italian personnel. They are all fine,” the ministry said in a statement posted shortly after midnight on the social media platform X.

Col. Stefano Pizzotti, the base commander, told Sky TG24 that troops had been warned of possible aerial threats hours before the incident and had taken shelter in bunkers ahead of the strike.

Pizzotti said it remained unclear where the strike originated. He added that although the air raid alert had ended, specialists were continuing to inspect and secure the area.

Italy maintains around 300 troops in Irbil tasked with training Kurdish security forces, according to information published by the defence ministry.

Pizzotti said troop numbers at the base had recently been reduced because of heightened security risks linked to the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran in the wider region.

Ihor Terekhov said the drone struck an area close to a residential building, causing damage to nearby property. Among those injured was a small child, he added.

The impact damaged vehicles and blew out windows in surrounding buildings, according to the mayor’s statement. Emergency services responded to the scene following the attack, which occurred in a city that has repeatedly come under Russian aerial strikes.

Kharkiv lies about 30 kilometres from the Russian border and has remained a frequent target since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In a separate incident, Russian shelling struck the southeastern city of Dnipro, injuring seven people, regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha said on the Telegram messaging platform.

Ganzha posted photographs online showing rubble scattered across streets and damage to building facades following the attack.

Kharkiv resisted early advances by Russian forces during the initial stages of the invasion and has since remained under periodic bombardment, particularly from missiles, drones and artillery launched from across the nearby border with Russia.

The strike marked the first attack within the city limits of Beirut since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah resumed last week. It came amid continued airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs as well as southern and eastern Lebanon, areas where Israel says militant infrastructure linked to Iran-backed groups is concentrated.

Israel’s military said the operation targeted senior commanders from the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The military did not publicly identify those killed.

“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

An Israeli military source said the strike targeted five senior Quds Force members involved in intelligence and financial operations connected to Iranian activity in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said four people were killed in the drone strike in the capital. The ministry said the cumulative death toll from Israeli strikes across Lebanon since the escalation began has reached 394 people.

The health ministry said those killed include at least 83 children and 42 women. Lebanese authorities do not differentiate in official tallies between civilians and fighters.

The attack in Beirut represents a significant expansion of Israel’s operations, which had previously focused largely on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon and areas near the Syrian border.

Israel’s military said it has killed approximately 200 Hezbollah militants since the start of the conflict, according to military spokesman Nadav Shoshani, who provided the figure during an online briefing. Hezbollah has not released an official count of its fighters killed.

The Israeli army also reported its first battlefield losses since the war began, announcing on Sunday that two Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon.Military officials did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The latest escalation follows Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel earlier in the week, which drew large-scale Israeli airstrikes across Lebanese territory.

Lebanon became directly involved in the broader confrontation between Iran and a U.S.-Israel alliance after Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, launched attacks toward Israel on Monday.

Israel responded with extensive bombardment targeting southern and eastern Lebanon and areas near Beirut.

Earlier in the conflict, Israel also carried out a rare airborne raid deep inside Lebanese territory that Lebanese authorities said killed 41 people.

The expansion of Israeli operations into Beirut highlights the widening geographic scope of the conflict as regional tensions linked to Iran continue to intensify