On Sunday, Iran claimed the overnight attack on what it said were Israeli facilities in the region of Erbil in northern Iraq with precision-guided missiles.
The public relations wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for Saturday’s strike in the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) in a statement on Sunday, saying it came in response to last week’s Israeli attack in Syria that killed two IRGC members.
Vowing to avenge the Syria strike, the IRGC warned Israel that it would face a “harsh, decisive, and destructive response” if such strikes continue.
The IRGC said in the statement that the attack that occurred late at night targeted Israel’s “strategic center of conspiracies” in Erbil.
The KRG’s counterterrorism unit said a dozen ballistic missiles hit Erbil after they were launched from outside the country, in a statement on Sunday.
Adding that there had been no fatalities, it said the attack was “directed from the east,” targeting an affluent neighborhood in the direction of the US consulate.
Lawk Ghafuri, KRG’s head of Foreign Media Relations said on Twitter that numerous attacks were carried out in Erbil with missiles and that none of the missiles hit the new US Consulate in Erbil, which is under construction.
He added that the areas around the consulate were hit by missiles.
In a post on the KRG’s official Twitter account, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the attack saying: “Erbil will not bow down to cowards. I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on several places in Erbil.”
Incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi stated on social media that the attack targeted the safety of the people, adding that officials would launch investigations on the attack.
