Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked Israel’s “espionage headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported on Monday, while elite forces said they had also struck in Syria against Islamic State.
The strikes come amid fears of escalating conflict that has spread across the Middle East since the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas began on 7 October, with Iran’s allies from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen also joining in. Iran’s Guards said in a statement, naming Israel’s Mossad spy agency:
Ballistic missiles were used to destroy espionage centers and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the region late tonight.
Four people were killed and six others wounded near Erbil, Kurdish authorities reported. In addition to strikes near the Kurdistan capital Erbil, the Guards said they had hit “perpetrators of terrorist operations” in Iran, including the Islamic State.
Explosions were heard in an area about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Erbil in Kurdistan, three security sources said, near the US consulate as well as civilian homes. Security sources said air traffic at Erbil airport was suspended.
Iran has occasionally struck Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region in the past, claiming the area is being used as a staging ground for Iranian separatist groups as well as Israeli agents.
Baghdad has sought to address Iran’s concerns about separatist groups in the mountainous border region by taking steps to relocate some members as part of a 2023 security agreement with Tehran.
Earlier this month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for two bombings in the Iranian city of Kerman in the southeast of the country that killed about 100 people and wounded many at a memorial honouring top commander Qassem Soleimani.
