The Iraqi prime minister says his country has uncovered an impending Islamic State plot to bomb subway systems in Paris and the United States — an operation the White House and American law enforcement officials insist is unconfirmed.
Speaking to American reporters at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Thursday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that intelligence services in Baghdad provided “accurate reports that there were arrests of a few elements and there were networks from inside Iraq to have attacks — on metros of Paris and U.S.”
“They are not Iraqis,” he continued, as reported by CBS New York. “Some of them are French, some of them are Americans. But they are in Iraq.”
“I asked for more credible information,” al-Abadi told Reuters. ”I asked for names. I asked for details, for cities, you know, dates. And from the details I have received, yes, it looks credible.”
The prime minister could not confirm that the attack was “imminent,” but added that it has not yet been thwarted.
American officials reacted cautiously to the announcement. “We’ve seen the reports of Prime Minister Abadi’s comments,” White House national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement. “We have not confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any information from our Iraqi partners before making further determinations. We take any threat seriously and always work to corroborate information we receive from our partners.”
The FBI also distanced itself from the Iraqi prime minister’s report. “The first we heard of this threat is when the press began reporting it,” one official told NBC New York. “We don’t know what he is talking about,” said another.