SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sunday called on international community including the Iranian government to investigate Iran’s missile attack on Erbil, saying the attack targeted civilian areas.
As many as 12 missiles launched from outside Iraq struck Erbil in the early hours of Sunday. The attack caused no casualties but wounded a person slightly, according to the ministry of interior.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it would respond to any Israeli attack against its forces.
“Any repetition of attacks by Israel will be met with a harsh, decisive and destructive response,” the Revolutionary Guard said in a statement reported by state media, according to Reuters.
An Israeli air strike in Syria on Monday killed two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iranian state media said last week. The IRGC vowed to retaliate, it said.
“The cowardly attack on Erbil … allegedly under the pretext of hitting an Israeli base near the US Consulate in Erbil, targeted civilian locations and its justification is only to hide the disgracefulness of such offense,” presidency of the KRG Council of Ministers said in a statement.
“We reiterate that the propaganda of the perpetrators of this attack is far from true.
“Iran has repeated these attacks many times, and the silence of the international community in the face of these cowardly attacks will pave the way for their continuation,” it added.
“We call on the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the Arab League, the federal government, the Iraqi parliament, and the Iranian government to urgently investigate these baseless attacks, visit targeted locations, reveal the facts to the public, and take a true and strong stance on these attacks.”
Earlier, a U.S. State Department spokesperson called the attack an “outrageous attack” but said no Americans were hurt and there was no damage to U.S. government facilities in Erbil.
U.S. forces stationed at Erbil’s international airport complex have in the past come under fire from rocket and drone attacks that Washington blames on Iran-aligned militia groups, but no such attacks have occurred for several months.
