Iran had earlier also carried out attacks in the Northern Kurdistan region of Iraq. It believes the area has been used as a staging ground for Iranian separatist groups as well as agents of its arch enemy Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late Monday. While the elite force said they also carried out strikes against Islamic State in Syria. The attacks come amid concerns of an escalating conflict across the Middle East since war broke out between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7, including Iran’s allies Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. are doing.
The attack was described as a response to the atrocities of the Zionist regime
“In response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, which led to the assassination of Guards and Axis of Resistance commanders… one of the main Mossad spy headquarters in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was hit with ballistic missiles,” the Guards said in a statement. Was destroyed.” ,
Iran vowed to avenge the killing of three Guard members in Syria last month, including a senior Guard commander who had served as a military adviser there. Since an attack on Israeli territory by Hamas fighters on October 7 and subsequent Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, more than 130 fighters from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah have been killed in hostilities.
Revolutionary Guards asked to continue attacks for now
“We assure our nation that the Guards offensive will continue until the last drop of blood of the martyrs is avenged,” the Guards statement said. In addition to the strikes northeast of Kurdistan’s capital Erbil in a residential area near the US Consulate, the Guards said they “fired several ballistic missiles into Syria and destroyed perpetrators of terrorist operations in Iran, including the Islamic State ”
🇮🇶BREAKING: IRANIAN BALLISTIC MISSILES STRIKE NEAR U.S. CONSULATE IN IRAQ
Iran claims responsibility for the barrage of missiles near the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq, citing retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria.
The attack reportedly involved Fateh-110 ballistic… https://t.co/xIRTO7TKGg pic.twitter.com/FUUxtoTEUe
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 15, 2024
Earlier this month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for two blasts at a memorial to top commander Qassem Soleimani in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman, killing about 100 people and wounding many more. Iran, which supports Hamas in its war with Israel, has accused the United States of supporting Israeli crimes in Gaza. The US has said it supports Israel in its campaign but has expressed concern over the number of Palestinian civilians killed.
In a statement from his office, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the attack on Erbil, calling it a “crime against the Kurdish people.” The Kurdistan government’s Security Council described the attack as a “crime” in a statement, saying at least four civilians were killed and six were wounded in the attacks on Erbil.
