Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched a barrage of ballistic missiles in opposition to targets in Syria and northern Iraq, together with what the elite power described as an intelligence centre run by Mossad, the Israeli spy company.
The guards stated the missile strikes on an “espionage centre” within the Iraqi metropolis of Erbil have been in retaliation for Israeli strikes that killed an Iranian commander in Syria, in addition to members of Iran-backed militant teams within the area.
Iran’s assaults will heighten fears that the Center East is sliding dangerously in the direction of a broader regional conflagration as tensions have soared because the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in October.
The US state division condemned the assaults in Erbil, capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan area, saying they’d additional destabilise the area.
“We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes, which undermine Iraq’s stability,” stated Matthew Miller, US state division spokesperson. “We help the federal government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Authorities’s efforts to satisfy the aspirations of the Iraqi individuals.”
Iraq’s overseas ministry condemned what it referred to as Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil, which amounted to a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Baghdad stated it could take “all authorized measures”, together with submitting a criticism to the UN’s safety council.
Kurdish authorities stated the Iranians fired ballistic missiles at a number of civilian areas in Erbil, killing 4 individuals and wounding six others. Some reportedly struck close to the US consulate within the metropolis, however they brought about no injury to the diplomatic mission.
“No US amenities have been impacted. We’re not monitoring injury to infrastructure or accidents at the moment,” a US official stated.
Three armed drones have been shot down on Tuesday over Erbil airport, the place US and different worldwide forces are stationed, Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service stated. A navy base contained in the airport complicated homes US and different worldwide forces within the US-led coalition preventing the remnants of jihadist group Isis.
Kurdish authorities referred to as the sooner assault “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Kurdistan area and Iraq”, including in a press release that Baghdad and the worldwide neighborhood “should not stay silent relating to this crime”.
The guards additionally stated they launched missile strikes in Syria focusing on Isis, which they stated have been in response to this month’s suicide bombing in southern Iran that killed virtually 100 individuals, in keeping with Iranian state information companies. Isis claimed duty for that assault.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has triggered intensifying hostilities throughout the area with Iran-backed Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant motion, buying and selling day by day cross-border hearth with Israel; Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking service provider ships within the Purple Sea; and Iran-supported Iraqi militants launching missiles and drones in opposition to US forces in Iraq and Syria.
Iran has for months indicated it doesn’t need to change into straight embroiled in a wider battle that would result in it being dragged right into a conflict with the US or Israel. Nevertheless it has supported its proxies within the so-called Axis of Resistance as they’ve mounted assaults in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza in opposition to Hamas, which can also be backed by Tehran.
To this point, the hostilities involving Iran-backed militant teams have remained contained inside every theatre.
However fears a few wider battle have elevated in current weeks as obvious Israeli strikes have killed a senior guards commander in Syria, and 7 Hamas militants, together with one of many group’s senior leaders, in Beirut. Israel has additionally stepped up its rhetoric and strikes in opposition to Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.
“We guarantee our pricey nation that the Revolutionary Guards’ offensive operations will proceed till avenging the final drops of martyrs’ blood,” the guards stated in a press release.
The US additionally killed a senior Iraqi militia chief in an air strike in Baghdad this month after Iran-backed Iraqi teams launched greater than 120 rocket and drone assaults in opposition to US troops in Iraq and Syria.
Final week, US forces launched strikes in opposition to Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, in an try to discourage the rebels from attacking ships within the Purple Sea. The Houthis have severely disrupted maritime commerce by means of the important waterway after finishing up about 30 assaults in opposition to service provider vessels since mid-November.
Iran had additionally vowed revenge after two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a cemetery within the Iranian metropolis of Kerman this month, as individuals gathered to commemorate Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards commander killed in a focused US drone assault in 2020. Senior guards commanders had initially claimed the Kerman assaults have been orchestrated by Israel, with out offering proof, earlier than Isis launched a press release claiming duty for the bombing.
It was not the primary time Iran has mounted strikes in northern Iraq, together with assaults in opposition to Iranian opposition teams primarily based within the space.
Two years in the past, the Revolutionary Guards launched a missile assault in Erbil, additionally claiming it was focusing on an Israeli intelligence centre. That got here days after an Israeli air strike close to the Syrian capital Damascus killed two guards commanders.
Iranian forces are deployed in Syria, the place they’ve supported President Bashar al-Assad within the nation’s civil conflict which erupted in 2011.
The Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7 after the Palestinian militant group carried out an assault on southern Israel that killed not less than 1,200 individuals, in keeping with Israeli officers. One other 240 individuals have been taken hostage within the raid.
Israel has responded with a ferocious air and land assault in opposition to Hamas in Gaza, which has killed greater than 24,000 individuals, in keeping with Palestinian well being officers, and brought about outrage throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds.
Extra reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington
