The Islamic Republic of Iran launched ballistic missiles late on Monday night that landed near the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a wing of Iran’s military and a designated terrorist organization, took responsibility for the attacks, saying that they were the “headquarters of spies” and “anti-Iranian terrorist gatherings in parts of the region”.
The IRGC claimed the facilities that it was targeting belonged to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Iran claimed that Mossad was behind “terrorist activities in the region,” which is false.
Several people were killed in the attacks, according to ABC News. No American casualties were reported.
BREAKING : Footage of loud explosions in Erbil #Iraq targeting US consulate and airport. Arabic media reporting 6 explosions using missiles and drones https://t.co/MgObwqXcNY
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) January 15, 2024
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson addressed the escalation from Iran in a statement emailed to reporters on Monday evening.
“We have been in touch with senior Iraqi officials as well as officials in the Kurdistan Region,” she said. “Iran is claiming this is in response to the terrorist attacks in Kerman, Iran and Rask, Iran, with a focus on ISIS.”
“We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes,” she added. “The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq.”
The attacks comes after Iran has activated its proxies throughout the region to launch more than 120 attacks against U.S. forces since October 17, just a little over a week after Hamas murdered 1,200+ Israelis in an unprecedented terrorist attack.
Other Iranian proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, have continued launching attacks against Israel while the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have launched dozens of attacks against merchant ships in international waters in the Red Sea.