Erbil Missile Strike ‘Stern Warning’ to Israel: Iran

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued a stern warning to Israel following a retaliatory missile strike in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.

An official IRGC statement said the ‘operation’ was in response to an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital of Damascus last Monday, in which two IRGC officers were killed. The brazen attack involving a dozen ballistic missiles hit ‘secret’ Mossad bases in Erbil, Iran’s military added.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying Iran fired 10 Fateh missiles, including several Fateh-110 missiles, which have a range of about 300 km.

While Iran claims several Israeli troops were killed, top U.S. and Iraqi officials said there were no casualties.

“The strikes were an outrageous violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. No U.S. facilities were damaged or personnel injured, and we have no indications the attack was directed at the United States,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington.

The U.S. condemned the attack and said it backs Baghdad in the face of threats from Tehran. "We will support the Government of Iraq in holding Iran accountable, and we will support our partners throughout the Middle East in confronting similar threats from Iran," U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement released by the White House.