2022 Erbil missile attacks

The 2022 Erbil missile attacks occurred on 13 March 2022 when multiple ballistic missile were launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from East Azerbaijan province, Iran, against the city of Erbil in Kurdistan Region, Iraq.[4][5]

Not to be confused with 2021 Erbil rocket attacks.
2022 Erbil missile attacks
Part of Iran–Israel proxy conflict
Location of Erbil
LocationErbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Date13 March 2022, 1:20 a.m. (local time, UTC+3)
Attack type
Missile attack
WeaponsFateh-110
DeathsNone (per Kurdish officials)[1]
Injured1 civilian (per Kurdish officials)[1]
9 Mossad casualties (per Iranian media)[2]
PerpetratorIranIran
MotiveIn retaliation to Israeli sabotage operations in Iran[3]

Fateh-110 ballistic missiles were reportedly launched from Iran.[6] The IRGC said that the target was Israel's "strategic center" in Erbil. Kurdish authorities reported that among the places hit by the missiles were the city's American consulate and a residential neighbourhood. One civilian was injured by the attack.[1] According to one US official, the targets encompassed buildings where a Mossad cell was suspected of operating, according to a conversation with an Iraqi counterpart.[7]

The next day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attack.[8]

Background

A few days before, IRGC released a statement promising Israel will pay for the killings of Ehsan Karbalaipour and Morteza Saeidnejad, two IRGC colonels killed in an Israeli airstrike in the outskirts of Damascus in Syria on 7 March.[9][10][11] Major General Hossein Salami, IRGC Commander-in-Chief and General Amir Ali Hajizadeh attended their funerals.[12]

The attack

The ballistic missiles struck the target at 1:20 a.m., the same time of the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani by a U.S. drone strike in 2020.[13]

Reactions

On Sunday, Iraq summoned the ambassador of Iran to protest the missile attack, denouncing a "flagrant violation of (Iraqi) sovereignty," Iraq protested over the missile strikes that had caused "material losses" and "damage to civilian installations and houses."[14]

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr responded to the attack by tweeting "The territory of Iraq from south to north, and east to west should not be part of conflicts and that Iraq's "involvement" in conflicts was a dangerous precedent, while calling on the competent authorities to immediately send a protest letter to the United Nations and additionally to summon the Iranian ambassador.[15][16]

The airstrikes were also denounced by Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the United States Department of State,[17][1] President of Iraq Barham Salih and Iraqi Kurdish former president Masoud Barzani, the latter two of whom described it as a terrorist attack.[18][19]

Qais al-Khazali, leader of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq which is a radical Iraqi Shi'a political party and paramilitary group praised the airstrike, claiming to have information about the Israeli presence and that what was bombed in Erbil was the headquarters of Mossad. He also stated that even if Mohammed bin Salman decided to bomb an Israeli headquarters in Iraq, "[he] would not condemn this". On 21 March, Jafar al-Husseini, the spokesperson for Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah movement, warned that activities by the Israeli spy agency Mossad in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region could trigger a conflict between Iraq and its neighbors.[20]

Israel's officials declined to comment.[1]

See also

References
  1. Ismail, Amina (2022-03-13). "Ballistic missiles hit Iraq's Kurdish capital, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claim responsibility". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  2. "Iranian precise missile attacks on Israeli secret places in Erbil + Video".
  3. "IRGC Claims Responsibility for Missile Attack on Erbil".
  4. "Iran Attacks Iraq's Erbil With Missiles in Warning to U.S., Allies". Archived from the original on 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  5. Agencies, The New Arab Staff & (March 12, 2022). "Multiple rockets fall in Erbil, northern Iraq, says state news agency". english.alaraby.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  6. Rogoway, Stetson Payne and Tyler (12 March 2022). "Ballistic Missiles Strike Near U.S. Base in Erbil, Iraq (Updated)". The Drive. Archived from the original on 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  7. Loveluck, Louisa; Horton, Alex. "After nuclear talks break down, Iran claims ballistic missile attack in Iraq". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 March 2022. One U.S. official, citing a conversation with an Iraqi counterpart, said that the targets included houses where a Mossad cell was suspected to have operated.
  8. "IRGC confirms it hit Mossad training centers inside Iraqi Kurdistan". Tehran Times. 2022-03-13. Archived from the original on 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  9. "Iran says Israel will pay for Syria attack that killed 2 Revolutionary Guards". Reuters. 2022-03-09. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  10. "Iran says IRGC members killed in Israeli missile strike in Syria, vows revenge". Al Arabiya English. 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  11. "شهادت دو تن از پاسداران رشید مدافع حرم در حمله جنایتکارانه موشکی رژیم صهیونیستی به سوریه". ایسنا (in Persian). 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  12. "حضور سرلشکر سلامی و سردار حاجی‌زاده بر پیکرهای شهدای اخیر حمله رژیم صهیونیستی- اخبار نظامی | دفاعی | امنیتی - اخبار سیاسی تسنیم | Tasnim". خبرگزاری تسنیم | Tasnim (in Persian). Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  13. "Iran Hits U.S. Consulate Site in Erbil, Iraq With a Dozen Ballistic Missiles: AP". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  14. Agencies (2022-03-13). "Iraq summons Iranian envoy over Irbil missile strike". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  15. "بعد استهداف أربيل بصواريخ إيرانية.. الصدر والبارزاني يطالبان بالتحقيق في وجود مقرات إسرائيلية بالعراق". www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  16. "IRGC claims responsibility for missiles towards Iraq". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  17. "Iraqi PM Condemns Erbil Attack, Talks to KRG PM". 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  18. "Iranian Guards claim ballistic missile attacks in Erbil". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  19. "Iraqi president says Erbil missile attack was act of terror". The National. 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  20. News Desk. "Kataeb Hezbollah says Mossad activities in Iraqi Kurdistan a threat to regional peace". The Cradle. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
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