Iran missile attack on Erbil goes beyond retaliation for IRGC deaths
The attack early Sunday could also be related to both the now stalled Iran nuclear talks and Iraqi government formation.
Iran’s brazen ballistic missile attack on Erbil in the early hours of Sunday is a further chilling reminder of the continued vulnerability of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, seen as easy prey by its large and aggressive neighbors, Turkey and Iran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for the dozen or so missiles which fell at 1 am local time on Sunday near the site of the new US consulate on the outskirts of Erbil. No deaths were reported, though several buildings, including the headquarters of the local news organization Kurdistan 24, were damaged in the strike. A farm belonging to Sheikh Baz Karim Barznji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR group, was also affected, with windows shattering from the impact.
The IRGC said in a statement that a "strategic center for conspiracy and mischiefs of the Zionists was targeted by powerful precision missiles fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." Erbil’s governor denied the presence of Israeli agents.
Iran has long claimed that Israel’s national spy agency, the Mossad, maintains a presence in Iraqi Kurdistan. The move appears to have been in retaliation for a March 7 Israeli airstrike on Damascus that killed two IRGC guards.
