Missile attacks on Iraqi city of Erbil overnight were aimed at "secret Israeli bases", an Iranian state-TV based in Iraq said on Sunday.
A dozen ballistic missiles launched from outside Iraq struck the country's northern Kurdish regional capital pre-dawn Sunday, Kurdish officials said, adding there were no casualties. An official from the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that the missiles came from Iran, but is still unclear where they landed.
missiles in Erbil
After the strike, broadcasting was temporarily interrupted at a local local television station, Kurdistan 24.
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Masrour Barzani said in tweet Sunday, "Erbil will stand strong against cowardly attacks. I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on Erbil and call on its resilient people to keep calm and follow the guidance of the security services."
The reports overnight in Iran said the missiles also targeted the American consulate in Ebril.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson called the attack "outrageous," but said no Americans were hurt and there was no damage to U.S. government facilities in Erbil.
The last time ballistic missiles were directed at U.S. forces was in January 2020, as part of an Iranian retaliation for the U.S. killing earlier that month of its military commander Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad airport. No U.S. personnel were killed in the 2020 attack, but many suffered injuries.
Iraq and neighboring Syria are regularly the scene of violence between the United States and Iran. Iran-backed Shi'ite Islamist militias have attacked U.S. forces in both countries and Washington has on occasion retaliated with air strikes.
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Aftermath of the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds force commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020
(Photo: AP)
News sources from Saudi Arabia have since claimed that the missile strikes were intended to hit a secret Israeli base in response to the assassination of two Iranian officers by Israel last week.
Al-Mayadeen TV, pan-Arabist satellite television channel associated Hezbollah, originally made the same claim. It later added that the attack was a response to other Israeli actions in Erbil, and warned that the response to the Iranian officers' assassination will come "at its' time".
Iranian media sources emphasized that the missile strike occurred at 1:20am (Baghdad time) - the same time Soleimani was assassinated in 2020. Sirens were heard in Baghdad as well, near the American consulate.
Iran also reported this morning that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security in Western Iran had arrested a spy squad that was operating for Israel. Reports in Iran state that "the network acted to recruit rioters with the aim of sending them to carry out sabotage operations inside Iran".
An Israeli air strike in Syria on Monday killed two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - Murtaza Saeed Najad and Ihsan Karbala Bo - in Damascus last week. The IRGC vowed to retaliate, it said.
This marks the first Israeli air attack associated with Israel since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The Syrians reported: "the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack at around 5am towards south Beirut, that hit several targets in Damascus. Out air defense systems were activated against the missiles and intercepted most of them".
Following the death of the two officers, Iranian forces said "there's no doubt that Israel will pay the price for this crime".