The speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Mohammed al-Halbusi, condemned the retaliatory Iranian missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing US-led troops as a "violation of Iraqi sovereignty".

Halbusi, the most senior Sunni Arab in Iraq's confessional power-sharing system, on Wednesday called for urgent measures to stop Iraq being turned into a proxy battlefield for outside powers, including Shia Iran.

"While we condemn the Iranian violation of Iraqi sovereignty at dawn today, we confirm our absolute refusal to the conflicting parties to use the Iraqi arena to settle scores," he said.