Iran launches attacks in Iraq and Syria as tensions rise in the region

New blow to the already growing tensions in the Middle East. Iran attacks Israeli “targets” in Iraq and the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria.

The Revolutionary Guard of Tehran detailed that it launched an attack against a base of “Israeli spies” near the US consulate in the city of Erbil. It is the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, in northern Iraq.

The attack, carried out in a residential area, took place on the night of Monday, January 15, local time.

At least four civilians were killed and six injured.The Kurdistan government's security council said in a statement, describing the attack as a “crime.”

Among the dead were Kurdish billionaire Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family.who lost their lives when at least one rocket hit their home, according to Iraqi medical and security sources.

Dizayee, a real estate and security services businessman, was close to the ruling clan of Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

Additionally, a projectile fell on the house of a senior Kurdish intelligence official and another missile hit a Kurdish intelligence center. These actions caused the stoppage of air traffic at Erbil airport.

Iraq will file a complaint against Iran before the UN Security Council

After what happened, Iraq summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Baghdad to protest attacks and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that its Government will take “all legal measures” against what it called a violation of the sovereignty of its country.

“The Iraqi Government will take all legal measures, including filing a complaint with the Security Council (…) The Government of Iraq considers this attitude as an aggression against the sovereignty and security of the Iraqi people and an abuse of good neighborliness.” , stated the Foreign Ministry in the last hours.

For its part, the US State Department condemned the attacks near Erbil, calling them “reckless”, although its officials assured that no US installations were affected and that no US casualties were reported.

Washington “supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq,” Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.

But the attacks were not limited to Iraqi soil. Parallel, Iranian troops “fired several ballistic missiles in Syria” against positions of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Offensives that trigger fears of further clashes in a turbulent region.

Why is Iran launching attacks in Iraq and Syria?

According to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, its actions respond to retaliation for the recent Israeli and self-proclaimed Islamic State attacks in which members of that branch of the Iranian Armed Forces and the Axis of Resistance – of which the Shiite group Hezbollah, which operates from Lebanon, backed by Tehran, is considered a fundamental party – as well as civilians.

“Tonight ballistic missiles were used to destroy spy centers and meetings of anti-Iran terrorist groups in the region,” the Guard said, referring to its actions in both Iraq and Syria.

Regarding the attacks on Iraqi soil, the Iranian Guard stressed that “in response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, which caused the murder of commanders of the Guard and the Axis of Resistance, “One of Mossad's main spy headquarters in the Iraqi Kurdistan region was destroyed with ballistic missiles.”

Tehran had already vowed revenge for the killing of three Guard members in Syria last month, including a senior commander of that force who had served as a military adviser there. Iranian security sources and state media said at the time that they were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Likewise, last November, three members of Hezbollah died in a bombing by the Israeli Army near Damascus, the Syrian capital.

Meanwhile, the latest Iranian attacks in Syria occurred after the self-proclaimed Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, which occurred on January 3, in Kerman, southern Iranwhen dozens of people attended the commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.

The attack in which two extremists detonated explosive belts left at least 84 people dead and more than 200 injured, the worst attack in the history of the Islamic Republic.

“We assure our nation that the Guards' offensive operations will continue until the last drops of blood of the martyrs are avenged,” the Revolutionary Guard statement stated.

These attacks also come at a time of acute tensions in the region over the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip between the Israeli Army, backed by the United States, and the Hamas group, backed by Iran and Hezbollah.

This is the first time that the Iranians have called for a direct attack against Israeli positions, since last October 7when the conflict in the Palestinian enclave escalated.

Since then, the Shiite group Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Benjamin Netanyahu's Army in the border area between Israel and Lebanon. The Lebanese movement claims it acts as a signal of support for Hamas.

In addition, Yemen's Houthi rebels, also backed by Iran, have attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea, allegedly linked to the Jewish-majority country or its ports. Offensives in support of the group that controls Gaza and that have threatened international trade.

As the war continues in the besieged coastal strip, new fronts of tension are emerging and fears of an expansion of the conflict in the Middle East are growing.

With Reuters and AP