Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched ballistic missiles at what it claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and also hit targets allegedly linked to the ISIL (ISIS) in northern Syria.
At least eight explosions were heard in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, early on Tuesday. Four people were killed and six were wounded, according to the regional Security Council.
“Ballistic missiles were used to destroy espionage centers and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the region,” the IRGC said, according to state media.
Iraq’s government condemned what it called Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, calling it a violation of the country’s sovereignty and the security of its people, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It would consider various actions, including filing a complaint at the United Nations Security Council, the government said.
The IRGC claimed that it had targeted the headquarters of Israeli spy agency Mossad in Erbil, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.
“In response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, causing the killing of commanders of the Guards and the Axis of Resistance … one of the main Mossad espionage headquarters in Iraq’s Kurdistan region was destroyed with ballistic missiles,” the IRGC statement said.
“We assure our nation that the Guards’ offensive operations will continue until avenging the last drops of martyrs’ blood,” it added.
Iraq’s Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the attack on Erbil as a “crime against the Kurdish people”.
Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw called the assault “a terrorist attack, an inhumane act”.
“Erbil will not be scared or shaken,” he added, according to Iraqi news outlet Rudaw.
Multimillionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family were among the civilian fatalities, killed when at least one rocket crashed into their home.
Dizayee, who was close to the ruling Barzani clan, owned businesses behind major real estate projects in Kurdistan.
