Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has claimed responsibility for missile attacks in multiple areas in Erbil, Iraq, and said it targeted what it said was the “strategic headquarters of a Zionist entity’s conspiracy” with precision-guided missiles.
Iranian television has said the missile strikes in Erbil were aimed at targeting a secret base in Israel, proving false U.S. claims that the attack targeted its consulate in the city.
On Sunday, Iranian TV correspondents in Iraq reported that the missile attack on Erbil, the capital of northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, was aimed at targeting “a secret base in Israel.”
Washington has previously said the bombing targeted its consulate in Erbil, and actively blamed Tehran.
The US State Department explained to Al Jazeera that there were no casualties or losses in the attack on the US consulate in Erbil.
However, the Home Office said in a statement that one person was slightly injured in the attack.
“We condemn the brutal attack on our consulate in Erbil, which is being investigated by Iraqi and Kurdish authorities,” the State Department said.
Al Jazeera’s Erbil office director Ahmed Zaviti said the missile attack targeted the new US consulate building in Erbil, located in the Salahuddin resort, while Iraqi Kurdistan’s counterterrorism service said , 12 ballistic missiles were fired at Erbil from outside Iraq.
Reuters quoted a U.S. official as saying the missiles aimed at Erbil, Iraq, were fired from Iran.
The Washington Post quoted an Iraqi official as saying the missiles were launched from Iran.
The Iraqi news agency quoted Erbil Governor Omid Khoshnau as saying that several missiles landed in the Erbil area.
State television quoted Iraqi Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman Barzanji as saying there were no casualties in the blast in Erbil.
explosion sounded
Zaviti said unofficial sources indicated that these explosions were different from previous ones because the source of the explosions was geographically remote, and in addition, loud explosions could be heard in various places inside and outside Erbil, causing panic among the population. .
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadimi condemned the bombings and confirmed in a phone conversation with Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Masood Barzani that an investigation into the source of the bombings and the parties behind them had begun. .
U.S. troops stationed at the Erbil International Airport complex have been hit by missiles and drones in the past, which U.S. officials have blamed on Iran-aligned armed factions, but such attacks have not occurred for months.
The last time U.S. troops were hit by ballistic missiles was in January 2020, Iran’s response to the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad airport earlier that month.
No U.S. troops were killed in the 2020 attack, but many suffered head injuries.