‘Reckless and imprecise:’ US slams IRGC missile strikes on Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Tuesday condemned as “reckless and imprecise” the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ballistic missile strikes on the Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil, confirming that no US personnel or facilities were targeted. At least four civilians were killed. 

“We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes,” a National Security Council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, said in a statement.

At least five ballistic missiles struck Erbil in the late hours of Monday as sounds of loud bangs and explosions terrified residents. The IRGC claimed responsibility for the strikes, claiming to have hit “spy headquarters” of anti-Iran groups in the Kurdistan Region. The strikes killed at least four civilians and injured 17 others, and heavy material damages were incurred on residences near Erbil-Pirmam road.

“No US personnel or facilities were targeted. We have been in touch with senior Iraqi officials as well as officials in the Kurdistan Region,” Watson said, adding that Washington “will continue to assess the situation.” 

The Kurdistan Region Security Council earlier condemned the attacks as “blatant violation” of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s sovereignty.

“The IRGC said the attack targeted several positions of Iranian opposition groups. Unfortunately, they always use baseless excuses to attack Erbil,” the security council said in a statement in the early hours of Tuesday, adding that the Kurdish capital “has never been a source of threat to any party.”

It stressed that the Iraqi federal government and the international community “must not remain silent about this crime.” 

Peshraw Dizayee, a well-known Kurdish businessman and the owner of Falcon Group which runs major projects such as Empire World, succumbed to his injuries around 1:00 am on Tuesday after his house was struck by a missile, former deputy speaker of the Kurdistan Region parliament Hemin Hawrami confirmed on X.

“The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq,” Watson affirmed.

“This is a terrorist attack, an inhumane act that has been carried out against Erbil. Erbil will not be scared or shaken,” Governor Omed Khoshnaw told reporters near the site of the strikes on Pirmam road.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani last week said that the Region will not become a “source of threat” to Iran, amid threats by the IRGC to launch attacks on Erbil for allegedly housing secret Mossad bases. 

In late December, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani reiterated that there are no Israeli bases in the Kurdistan Region, a day after a pro-Iran militia claimed it had struck an Israeli base in Erbil with a drone.

In March of 2022, Iran attacked Erbil with twelve ballistic missiles, striking the residence of a well-known Kurdish businessman. The IRGC claimed responsibility for targeting “the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile.”