Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late on Monday, while elite forces said they were also attacking in Syria against Islamic State.
The attack comes amid concerns about an escalation of conflict that has spread across the Middle East since the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas began on October 7, with Iran’s allies also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
“In response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, resulting in the assassination of the commanders of the Guard and the Axis of Resistance … one of the main Mossad espionage headquarters in the Kurdistan region of Iraq was destroyed with a ballistic missile,” the Guard said in a statement. .
Reuters could not independently verify the report. Israeli government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
A view of damaged buildings following a missile attack, in Erbil, Iraq, on January 16, 2024. REUTERS
Iraq condemned on Tuesday Iran’s “invasion” of Erbil that left civilians dead in residential areas, according to a statement by the country’s foreign ministry.
The Iraqi government will take all legal measures against this action, which is considered a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and the security of its people, including filing a complaint at the United Nations Security Council, the statement said.
Iran has vowed revenge for the killing of three Guardsmen in Syria last month, including a senior Guards commander, who had served as a military adviser there.
Smoke billows after a missile attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards against what they said was Israel’s headquarters in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, in Erbil, Iraq on January 16, 2024. AP Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in the region Iraqi semi-autonomous Kurdistan. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Since the October 7 rampage by Hamas fighters into Israeli territory and the subsequent Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza and Lebanon, more than 130 Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters have been killed in hostilities.
“We assure our country that the Guard’s offensive operations will continue until the last drop of martyr’s blood is avenged,” said the Guard’s statement.
In addition to the attack northeast of Kurdistan’s capital Erbil in a residential area near the US consulate, the Guard said they “fired several ballistic missiles in Syria and destroyed the perpetrators of terrorist operations” in Iran, including the Islamic State.
A photo shows damage to a house following a missile attack launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the capital of the Kurdistan Region, Arbil, on January 16, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
US CONFIRMS ERBIL ATTACK AS ‘DEFENSE’
The US State Department condemned the attacks near Erbil, calling them “reckless,” but officials said no US facilities were targeted and there were no US casualties.
“We detected a missile, which had an impact in Northern Iraq and Northern Syria. No US personnel or facilities were targeted,” Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.
Iranian protesters carry a portrait of a former IRGC commander and a Yemeni flag, as they burn an Israeli flag during an anti-US and anti-British protest in downtown Tehran, Iran, on January 12, 2024. Morteza Nikoubazl/ NurPhoto/Shutterstock
“We will continue to assess the situation, but early indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of attacks,” he said, adding: “The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq.”
Earlier this month, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for two explosions in the southeast of the Iranian city of Kerman that killed nearly 100 people and injured many more at a memorial to supreme commander Qassem Soleimani.
Iran, which supports Hamas in its war with Israel, accuses the United States of supporting what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza.
People gather to demonstrate in front of the United Nations headquarters, following a missile attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in Erbil, Iraq, on January 16, 2024. REUTERS
The US says it supports Israel in its campaign but has raised concerns about the number of Palestinian civilians killed.
‘CRIMES AGAINST KURDISH PEOPLE’
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In a statement from his office, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the attack on Erbil as a “crime against the Kurdish people.”
At least four civilians were killed and six wounded in the attack on Erbil, the Kurdistan government’s security council said in a statement, calling the attack “a crime.”
Multi-millionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family were among the dead, killed when at least one rocket hit their home, Iraqi security and medical sources said.
Dizayee, who is close to the ruling Barzani clan, owns a business that spearheads major real estate projects in Kurdistan.
In addition, one rocket fell on the home of a senior Kurdish intelligence official and another on a Kurdish intelligence center and air traffic at Erbil airport was halted, security sources said.
Iran has in the past carried out attacks in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, saying the area is being used as a staging ground for Iranian separatists as well as agents of its arch-enemy, Israel.
Baghdad has tried to address Iranian concerns about separatist groups in the mountainous border region, moving to relocate some members as part of a security deal reached with Tehran in 2023.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
