Attacks on Kurds and IS
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fires rockets at targets in Iraq and Syria
The picture shows former Iranian intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi (l.) walking past a missile system last November to mark the twelfth anniversary of the death of General Moghaddam, a commander of the Revolutionary Guards.
© Vahid Salemi / DPA
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have fired rockets at targets in Syria and Iraq. The attacks targeted the Islamic State and the Kurdish city of Erbil, where a US consulate is being built. The USA strongly condemned the attack.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) says it has targets in Iraq and in Syria attacked with several ballistic missiles. The attacks were revenge for, among other things, the devastating attack in the southern Iranian city of Kerman at the beginning of January and the killing of a high-ranking IRGC officer at the end of December, the IRGC web portal announced on Tuesday night (local time).
The Revolutionary Guard described the target in Iraq’s Kurdish areas as a spy center for the Israeli secret service Mossad. “We assure our beloved people that the Revolutionary Guard’s offensive operations will continue until the last drop of martyrs’ blood is avenged,” it said in a statement.
Loud explosions were heard in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil shortly before midnight (local time). According to eyewitnesses, several rockets hit near a new US consulate under construction. According to security circles in Erbil, four civilians were killed. Five others are said to have been injured. Rockets fell on farms north of Erbil and hit houses.
Iran’s rocket fire is also a warning to Israel
The United States strongly condemned the attacks on Erbil and expressed condolences to the families of those killed. “We oppose Iran’s reckless missile attacks that are undermining stability in Iraq. We support the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government in their efforts to meet the future aspirations of the Iraqi people,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, on Tuesday night.
In Syria, according to the Revolutionary Guard, the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) was “located in the occupied areas of Syria and destroyed by firing a series of ballistic missiles,” according to their statement. According to the state news agency Irna, extremist groups were attacked in Idlib province.
According to Irna, the attack was the country’s most far-reaching missile operation to date, covering a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers. This should also be a clear signal to the arch-enemy Israel. It would be roughly the same distance that rockets from the west of the country would need to reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
Kurdish leader Barzani condemns “cowardly attack”
The Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw had previously reported on X (formerly Twitter) about a rocket attack from an IRGC missile base in western Iran. This was aimed at the city of Erbil, wrote the Norway-based organization. The information could not initially be verified.
Meanwhile, the Security Council of the Kurdish Autonomous Regions described the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s justifications for the attack in Erbil as mere pretexts. The attack was a violation of the sovereignty of the region and Iraq, it said in an initial statement on Tuesday night. Erbil is “not a source of threat” and will not be in the future, “but the Guard forces are using false pretexts to undermine the country’s stability.”
The Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani condemned on Platform
Israel killed IRGC general
The situation in the region has been extremely tense since the Gaza war broke out more than three months ago. There have been no missile attacks by the IRGC since then. However, militant groups allied with Iran have often attacked targets in Syria and Iraq in recent months. Israel and the USA have been considered Iran’s arch-enemies since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
At the end of December, Iranian Brigadier General Sejed-Rasi Mousavi was killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria. He was a senior member of the IRGC. Iran’s military leadership then vowed revenge on Israel. The Revolutionary Guard is Iran’s elite unit and is considered far more powerful than the regular troops. The commander in chief is Head of State Ali Khamenei.
More than 90 people were killed in a terrorist attack in the city of Kerman at the beginning of January. IS claimed responsibility for the attack. It was for a mourning event to mark the anniversary of the death of the powerful general Ghassem Soleimani in his hometown. It was the deadliest attack in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic.