Iraq PM: Islamic State Plotting Terrorist Attack On U.S., French Subways

Iraq's prime minister announced at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Thursday that his country's intelligence team had uncovered an Islamic State plot to attack U.S. and French subway systems.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made his comments while speaking to reporters at the United Nations General Assembly, saying Iraq had learned of extremists from France and the U.S. training for the attack in Iraq. The United States and France have not commented on al-Abadi's claims, and they have not been independently verified.

"Today, while I'm here I'm receiving accurate reports from Baghdad 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.," al-Abadi said. "They are not Iraqis. Some of them are French, some of them are Americans. But they are in Iraq."

According to the Associated Press, al-Abadi told reporters that he wasn't sure if the attacks were imminent, and he confirmed that they had not been completely thwarted.

Although France has not addressed the Iraqi prime minister's recent claims, it did announce earlier this week that it would be stepping up its security in public areas and Paris transportation after a French mountaineer was recently beheaded by an Islamic State splinter group in Algeria.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the NYPD have also acknowledged al-Abadi's claims, saying they are in touch with the FBI concerning the threat and are monitoring the issue closely. The NYPD said that New York City already operates at a high level of security but will adjust its approach as more information becomes available.