A man walks past damaged buildings following a rocket attack on Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, March 13, 2022. (AFP/SAFIN HAMED) #
The ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Sunday fired rockets at a target in Iraqi Kurdistan, touted as a “strategic center” of Israel, but the local Kurdish authorities denied the existence of such objects of the Jewish state on their territory.
Iran’s sworn enemy, Israel, has not yet responded to accusations by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of having an “Israeli center” in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan (north).
“Twelve ballistic missiles” were fired “from behind the eastern borders of Iraq” towards Erbil, injuring two, according to Kurdish authorities. In the area of fire are a residential complex owned by a Kurdish oil tycoon and the building of the American consulate.
Iraq has a long eastern border with Iran, which plays an important political and economic role for its neighbour.
On their Sepah News website, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that “the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and vice (Israel, editor’s note) has been hit by rockets.”
Map showing Erbil, Iraq, 12 ballistic missile targets (AFP/)
But the Kurdistan authorities denounced the “justification aimed solely at covering up the crime.”
“These are groundless accusations,” said Erbil Governor Umid Khushnau. “There are no Israeli facilities in the area, only the new US Consulate building” in the target area.
While Kurdish politicians are calling for normalization of relations with Israel, Kurdistan’s official line remains cautious in a country where the topic remains largely taboo.
– USA, “not a target” –
The strikes on Erbil came a week after two high-ranking Revolutionary Guard officers were killed in Syria in a terrorist attack blamed on Israel. “The Zionist regime will pay for this crime,” the Guardians warned.
In Washington, the State Department condemned the shooting in a press release, adding, “No American facilities were damaged, no personnel were injured.”
A State Department spokesman then stated that “the United States was not the target” of the attack. “Most, if not all, of the missiles were aimed at a private housing estate owned by an Iraqi Kurdish citizen,” he said.
Following the attack, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), at the helm in Erbil, arranged for the media to visit a sprawling, luxurious residence owned by a Kurdish oil tycoon that was destroyed in a shooting.
The attack happened before dawn. An AFP correspondent heard three explosions in Erbil.
Ziryan Wazir, an Iraqi taxi driver, rests after being injured in a rocket attack on Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, March 13, 2022. (AFP/SAFIN HAMED)
Ziryan Vazir was driving his taxi. “The windows of my car blew up, I got shot in the face,” says a bedridden 30-year-old man with a bandaged head.
He is one of two wounded in the shelling.
Local TV channel Kurdistan24, whose studios are located near the new premises of the US consulate, published footage of their damaged offices.
In Baghdad, the Foreign Ministry summoned Iranian Ambassador Iraj Masjidi and informed him of the federal government’s protests over the strikes as a “blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” according to the statement.
– Convictions –
In January 2020, in retaliation for the US assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iran fired 22 surface-to-surface missiles at two bases containing US soldiers in Iraq, injuring people.
The rarely reported missile and drone strikes of recent years against US interests and international anti-Jihadist coalition forces in Iraq are typically attributed by Washington to pro-Iranian Iraqi groups that are demanding the withdrawal of US soldiers stationed in Iraq.
A man inspects damage to a store following a rocket attack on Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, March 13, 2022. (AFP/SAFIN HAMED) #
The latest attack in Erbil took place in September last year, when armed drones attacked the airport without any casualties.
Abroad, Paris condemned the Iranian attack, which “threatens the stability of Iraq and the region.” The European Union has ruled that “there is no justification for such an act of violence against the territory of a sovereign state.”
“Those responsible (for this attack) must answer for their actions,” Germany said.
Saudi Arabia, Iran’s main regional rival, expressed “solidarity” with Iraq.
Iranian shelling also came after talks to restart the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were suspended.