Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late on Monday, while the elite force said they also struck in Syria against the Islamic State.
The attacks come amid concerns about the escalation of a conflict that has spread across the Middle East since war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas began on October 7, with Iran’s allies also entering the fray since Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
“In response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, which led to the assassination of Guard and Resistance Axis commanders… one of the main Mossad spy headquarters in the Iraqi Kurdistan region was destroyed with ballistic missiles,” the Guards said in a statement. .
Reuters could not independently verify the report. Israeli government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
View of a building damaged after missile attacks, in Erbil, Iraq, January 16, 2024. REUTERS
Iraq on Tuesday condemned Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil, which caused 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 filing a complaint with the United Nations Security Council, the statement said.
Iran had vowed revenge for the killing of three Guard members in Syria last month, including a senior Guard commander who had served as a military adviser there.
Smoke rises after a missile attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard against what they said was Israel’s headquarters in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, in Erbil, Iraq, on Jan. 16, 2024. AP La Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said they attacked Israel’s “espionage headquarters” in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Since the October 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israeli territory and subsequent Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, more than 130 fighters from the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah have been killed in hostilities.
“We assure our nation that the Guards’ offensive operations will continue until the last drops of blood of the martyrs are avenged,” the Guards statement said.
In addition to the attacks northeast of Kurdistan’s capital, Erbil, in a residential area near the American consulate, the guards said they “fired several ballistic missiles into Syria and destroyed the perpetrators of terrorist operations” in Iran, including the Islamic State .
An image shows a view of damage to a house following a missile attack launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Kurdistan Region’s capital, Arbil, on January 16, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
US CONDEMNS ERBIL ATTACK AS ‘STUNNING’
The U.S. State Department condemned the attacks near Erbil, calling them “reckless,” but officials said no U.S. facilities were attacked and there were no American casualties.
“We have tracked the missiles that hit northern Iraq and northern Syria. No US personnel or facilities were attacked,” Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.
Iranian protesters carry a portrait of the former IRGC commander and a Yemeni flag, while burning an Israeli flag during a protest against the United States and Britain in central Tehran, Iran, on January 12, 2024. Morteza Nikoubazl/ NurPhoto/Shutterstock
“We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a series of reckless and imprecise attacks,” he said, adding: “The United States supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq.”
Earlier this month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for two explosions in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman that killed nearly 100 people and injured dozens at a monument to top commander Qassem Soleimani.
Iran, which supports Hamas in its war against Israel, accuses the United States of supporting what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza.
People gather to demonstrate outside the United Nations headquarters, following missile attacks by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, in Erbil, Iraq, January 16, 2024. REUTERS
The United States has said it supports Israel in its campaign, but has expressed concern about the number of Palestinian civilians killed.
‘CRIME AGAINST THE 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 attacks on Erbil, the Kurdistan government’s security council said in a statement, describing the attack as a “crime.”
Billionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family were among the dead, killed when at least one rocket slammed into their home, Iraqi security and medical sources said.
Dizayee, close to the ruling Barzani clan, owned companies leading major real estate projects in Kurdistan.
In addition, a rocket hit the home of a senior Kurdish intelligence official and another hit a Kurdish intelligence center and air traffic at Erbil airport was stopped, security sources said.
In the past, Iran has carried out attacks in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, saying the area is used as a base of operations for Iranian separatist groups, as well as agents of its archenemy Israel.
Baghdad has sought to address Iranian concerns about separatist groups in the mountainous border region, taking steps to relocate some members as part of a security deal reached with Tehran in 2023.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn