Iran attacks the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan with missiles, killing four civilians

Iran launched a dozen ballistic missiles on Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on the night of Monday to Tuesday, killing four civilians and wounding at least six others. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard stated in a statement that its target was Israeli espionage centers, but the Kurdish authorities in Iraq have criticized the Iranian justification as “unfounded excuses,” since the dead were a prominent Kurdish businessman and his associates, who had gathered for a family celebration. The United States has also condemned the “reckless and imprecise” Iranian attack, in a context of increased tension in the region.

The Revolutionary Guard first explained that its attack in Erbil was directed against “anti-Iranian groups” and, hours later, stated in another statement that the target was “one of the main headquarters of the Israeli spy agency Mossad in Iraqi Kurdistan.” ”. And that the attack was carried out in response to the Israeli bombing that killed the Iranian commander of the Revolutionary Guard Razi Mousavi in ​​December, when he was in Damascus, the Syrian capital, according to the state news agency IRNA.

After a night of meetings of the regional authorities, the Kurdish Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, charged against the attackers: “I condemn in the harshest possible terms the cowardly attack against the people of the Kurdistan Region. “I urge the federal government in Baghdad to take a principled stand against this blatant violation of the sovereignty of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.” The Iraqi Kurdish leader assured that his government will begin working in the coming days with its international allies to “stop these brutal attacks” against his “innocent people.”

Subsequently, the Foreign Ministry of the federal government of Iraq, in a statement, expressed its “severe condemnation of the Iranian aggression” and said it would take legal measures, including reporting the events to the UN Security Council. The ministry has summoned the chargé d'affaires of the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad to convey a note of protest.

Iranian missiles began hitting areas north of Erbil shortly before midnight. Local media reported explosions around the airport, where there is a US military base and near which the US consulate is located, although a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, stated that no facilities or personnel of her country had been reached. “We shot down two ballistic missiles using our anti-missile system without causing any damage,” explained Abdullah Hama Rashid, head of special operations at the Kurdistan Defense Agency, in statements to Rudaw television. Drones also participated in the attack and, according to anti-terrorist units, three of them were shot down when they were preparing to attack the airport.

But the main target of the attack was the residence of billionaire businessman Peshraw Dzeyi, where a family gathering was being held because two of his sons studying in the United States had returned to visit. Up to five missiles fell on the residence of the owner of the Falcon business group, with interests in construction and security, engulfing the building in flames and damaging several neighboring buildings. Dzeyi himself died an hour and a half after the bombing, a victim of the serious injuries he suffered. Another businessman friend of the family also died, identified by Rudaw as Karam Mikhail, also linked to the construction. Four hours later, emergency services managed to rescue the lifeless body of Dzeyi's youngest daughter, who was not yet one year old. The fourth victim is a domestic worker of Filipino nationality. Among the injured who have been admitted to Erbil hospitals are several of Dzeyi's relatives, including his wife, and another Filipino domestic worker.

Mashan al Jabouri, a former member of the Iraqi Parliament who is building a chalet next to the attacked residence, explained on the social network town that the late businessman and friend is not involved in politics, has no connection with Mossad and works only in real estate development. “If my house were complete and I lived in it, I would also be one of the victims of the missiles that, according to Iran, targeted the Mossad headquarters.”

In addition to northern Iraq, during the night, Iran's Revolutionary Guard attacked some points in Syria with missiles. As published in a statement, its objectives were bases of “terrorist groups, especially Daesh.” [las siglas árabes de Estado Islámico]”responsible for the suicide attack that left nearly 90 dead in the Iranian city of Kerman on the 3rd – which was claimed by the jihadist organization – and the attack on a police station in the town of Rasak in December, which left 11 officers dead and attributes Jaish to Adl, a Salafist group of the Baluchi insurgency. On Monday morning, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, justified the attack in Erbil on his Telegram channel, claiming that it is “in line with the defense of the sovereignty and security of the country” and “the fight against terrorism” and that it is part of “a just punishment by the Islamic Republic against those who threaten the security of the nation.”

“Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says the attack targeted the positions of Iranian opposition groups. Unfortunately, he always uses these baseless excuses to attack Erbil. Iraqi Kurdistan has never been a threat to any party,” the autonomous region's Security Council responded in another statement after an emergency meeting overnight.

Late last year, regional government spokesman Peshawa Hawramani stressed that there are no Israeli bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, after a pro-Iran militia claimed to have hit a Jewish state base in Erbil in a drone attack. In March 2022, Iran launched a dozen missiles on the Kurdish capital, hittin
g the residence of another local businessman—without causing any casualties—which the Revolutionary Guard identified as “a strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy.” A commission of inquiry by Iraq's federal parliament found no evidence that he was involved in espionage activities. However, Iraqi, Iranian and Turkish sources confessed to the Reuters agency that The reason for the attack was that the businessman was designing a plan to export gas to Turkey and Europe with Israeli support, a project considered by Iran to be contrary to its economic and geopolitical interests.

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