Kurdistan
The aftermath of the IRGC attack on Peshraw Dizayee's house in Erbil on January 16, 2024. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said that Baghdad will pursue legal measures against Tehran, including filing a complaint to the United Nations’ Seucrity Council, following a deadly attack with ballistic missiles on Erbil province the night before.
In the late hours of Monday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched 10 ballistic missiles towards the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil, under the pretext of targeting “spy headquarters” of anti-Iran groups, killing at least four and wounding 17 others.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, the Iraqi foreign ministry said that it strongly condemns and denounces “the Iranian aggression” against Erbil, which resulted in civilian casualties, labeling the attack “a violation” of Iraqi sovereignty.
At least five of the missiles targeted the residence of Peshraw Dizayee, a well-known Kurdish businessman. Dizayee and his 11-month-old daughter were killed as a result of the attack.
Baghdad “considers this behavior an aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq and the security of the Iraqi people, and an insult to good neighborliness and the security of the region, and confirms that it will take all legal measures against it, including submitting a complaint to the Security Council,” read the statement.
The ministry added that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has directed forming a security committee to investigate the incident and “support the [Iraqi] government’s stance internationally.”
Iraqi state media reported around an hour later that National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji was heading a high-level security delegation to Erbil to assess the aftermath of the Iranian bombardment.
Earlier in the day, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned in the strongest terms the "cowardly attack on the people of the Kurdistan Region,” urging the Iraqi federal government to “take a principled position against the flagrant violation of Iraq’s and the Kurdistan Region’s sovereignty.”
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid on Tuesday morning condemned the Iranian attack as a “violation” of the country’s sovereignty.
“Resolving issues is done through constructive dialogue, not through military attacks that threaten the stability of Iraq and the entire region which is witnessing escalations that need to be deescalated,” said Rashid in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) condemned the attack, stressing that strikes violating Iraq’s sovereignty “must stop.”
“Security concerns must be addressed through dialogue, not strikes,” said UNAMI.
The IRGC claimed responsibility for the strike on Monday evening, claiming to have targeted “spy headquarters and gatherings of anti-Iran groups” in Erbil. In a later statement on early Tuesday, the IRGC claimed that "three Mossad bases" were targeted in the Erbil bombardments.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has categorically rejected the presence of Israeli intelligence in the Kurdistan Region.
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, 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.”
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