U.S. sanctions Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, says it is an Iran proxy

The United States has designated Asaib Ahl al-Haq as a terrorist organization along with two of the Iraqi Shi'ite militia group's leaders, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Friday, calling it a proxy for Iran.

The group and its leaders "are violent proxies of the

Islamic Republic of Iran," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. The group is backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which has also been sanctioned by the United States, according to the State Department.

The designation came a day after a U.S. air strike killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad.