Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “espionage headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late Monday, while the elite forces said they also struck in Syria against Islamic State.
The strikes come amid concerns about the escalation of a conflict that has spread across the Middle East since then the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization 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, which resulted in the assassination of commanders of the Guards and the Axis of Resistance … one of the main Mossad spy headquarters in the Kurdistan region of Iraq was destroyed by ballistic missiles,” the Guards said in one statement.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. Israeli government officials could not be reached for immediate comment.
Iraq on Tuesday condemned Iran’s “aggression” in Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, according to a statement from the country’s foreign ministry.
The Iraqi government will take all legal measures against these actions that are considered a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and the security of its people, including submitting a complaint to the United Nations Security Council, the statement said.
Iran had vowed revenge for them murder by three Guardsmen in Syria last month, including a senior Guardsman who had served as military advisers there.
Since the October 7 rampage by Hamas militants into Israeli territory and subsequent Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, more than 130 fighters of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah have he was killed in hostilities.
“We assure our nation that the aggressive operations of the Guards will continue until the last drops of blood of martyrs are 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 “launched a number of ballistic missiles into Syria and destroyed the perpetrators of terrorist operations” in Iran, including Islamic State.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Reading: Iran: US cannot call for restraint while supporting Israel’s war on Gaza
US condemns Erbil attack as ‘reckless’
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 tracked the missiles, which struck 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.
“We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a reckless and inaccurate set of strikes,” he said, adding: “The United States supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq.”
Earlier this month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for two blasts in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman that killed nearly 100 people and a number of wounded in a memorial service for the supreme commander Qassem Soleimani.
Iran, which backs Hamas in its war with Israel, accuses the United States of supporting what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza. The US has said it supports Israel in its campaign, but has raised concerns about the number of Palestinian civilians killed.
“Crime against the Kurdish people”
In a statement from his office, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masour Barzani condemned the attack in Erbil as a “crime against the Kurdish people.”
At least four civilians were killed and six wounded in the strikes in Erbil, Kurdistan’s governing 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 was close to the ruling Barzani clan, had businesses leading major real estate projects in Kurdistan.
In addition, one missile hit the home of a senior Kurdish intelligence official and another hit a Kurdish intelligence center, and air traffic at Erbil airport was disrupted, security sources said.
Iran has in the past carried out hits out at Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, saying the region is being used as a staging ground for Iranian separatist groups, as well as agents for Israel’s archenemy.
Baghdad has sought to address Iran’s concerns about separatist groups in the mountainous border region by moving to carry over some members under a security agreement reached with Tehran in 2023.
Reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Dubai and Timour Azhari in Baghdad. Additional reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Jasper Ward, Timothy Gardner, David Brunnstrom in Washington and Jana Choukeir. Written by Timour Azhari and Parisa Hafezi. Editing: Christopher Cushing, Matthew Lewis and Michael Perry
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