Iraq reportedly concerned Israel could strike Iran-backed terror group over abduction of Israeli academic

An Iraqi official told the Arabic language London-based news outlet Elaph that “anxiety started spreading in Iraq” over a potential Israeli strike on the Iranian-affiliated terror group believed to hold the Russian-Israeli researcher.

The current situation is further complicated by the fact that Iraq and Israel have no official relations and are officially in a state of war.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, who is affiliated with Princeton University in New Jersey, was abducted in the Iraqi capital Baghdad by a local militia affiliated with the pro-Iranian terrorist group Hezbollah.

Tsurkov’s employer, New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, confirmed that it has not heard from her since March 19. The institute said she planned to complete her doctorate at Princeton University in New Jersey.

"She said she'd had enough of fieldwork in the Middle East and wanted to return to Princeton University to complete her doctorate."

The institute believes Iran is involved in the kidnapping and expressed its hope that Russia would assist in securing her release.

"We hope she's released, and even though we don't know exactly where she is, it's probably connected to Iran. Because she's also a Russian citizen, this certainly falls on Moscow."

Iran and its terrorist proxies often hold foreign citizens as hostages as bargaining chips for various agreements with Western nations.

Israel has a history of daring rescue operations amid terrorism.

The Israeli government, however, has not asked Russia for assistance regarding the Tsurkov's abduction, according to Russian news outlet Kommersant.

Dmitry Paskov, Kremlin’s official spokesperson, claims that Moscow has no information on the kidnapped researcher. However, he said that the Russian Foreign Ministry would likely need to be involved in resolving the issue.

"We will certainly ask the Foreign Ministry as measures to protect our interests are usually taken by the diplomatic departments of Russia," Paskov said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been tacitly cooperating in trying to secure Tsurkov’s release, according to the news outlet Al-Monitor.