Iran launches missile strikes in Iraq and Syria

IRGC says it fired ballistic missiles at Israeli ‘espionage centres’ in Erbil in north Iraq, hit ISIL targets in Syria.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at what it claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and also hit targets allegedly linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS armed group) 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 centres 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.

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.

‘Reckless’ move

US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller described the missile attacks as “reckless”, adding that they “undermine Iraq’s stability”.

“We support the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people.”

Since the Gaza war began in October, US and allied forces have faced dozens of attacks in Iraq and Syria, which US President Joe Biden’s administration has blamed on Iran-affiliated armed groups.

The IRGC also said it launched missile attacks against the “perpetrators of terrorist operations in the Islamic Republic, particularly ISIL [ISIS]” in Syria, state media reported.

“The Guards identified and destroyed gathering places of their commanders and key elements with a series of ballistic missiles in response to the recent terrorist atrocities in Iran,” the statement said.

ISIL claimed responsibility for twin bombings in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman earlier this month, which killed nearly 100 people.

Explosions were heard in Aleppo and its countryside, where “at least 4 missiles that came from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea” fell, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.

media’s Ali Hashem reported that “Iran has been trying, as much as possible, to distance itself from any kind of tension” in the region amid Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians.

“This is the first time we’re seeing the Iranians going a step further,” said Hashem, describing the assaults as a “new escalation”.

However, Sina Azodi, an adjunct professor at George Washington University, said that while the strikes are significant, they do not signal a new regional escalation.

Iran has said the strikes were retaliation for recent “terrorist” attacks inside its territory as well as the killing of several of its commanders, Azodi told media.

“As long as the conflict in Gaza continues, we will see actions. But I don’t believe that this is an escalation,” Azodi said, noting that the US Department of State had issued a statement saying that the Iranians “were not targeting us”.

“So, the US is kind of playing it down too,” he said.