Iran says Revolutionary Guards attack Israel's 'spy HQ' in Iraq, vow more revenge

DUBAI/BAGHDAD: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked the “spy headquarters” of Israel in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late on Monday.

The strikes come amid concerns about the escalation of a conflict that has spread through the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7.

“In response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, causing the killing of commanders of the Guards and the Axis of Resistance … one of the main Mossad espionage headquarters in Iraq’s Kurdistan region was destroyed with ballistic missiles,” the Guards said in a statement.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. Israeli government officials were not reachable for immediate comment.

Iran had vowed revenge for the killing of three members of the Guards in Syria last month, including a senior Guards commander, who had served as military advisers there.

“We assure our nation that the Guards’ offensive operations will continue until avenging the last drops of martyrs’ blood,” the Guards’ statement said.

In addition to the strikes northeast of Kurdistan’s capital Erbil in a residential area near the US consulate, the Guards said they “fired a number of ballistic missiles in Syria and destroyed the perpetrators of terrorist operations” in Iran, including the IS.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

US CONDEMNS ERBIL ATTACK AS ‘RECKLESS’

The US State Department condemned the attacks near Erbil, calling them “reckless,” but officials said no US facilities were targeted and there were no casualties.

“We tracked the missiles, which impacted in Northern Iraq and Northern Syria. No US personnel or facilities were targeted,” Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.

“We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes,” she said, adding: “The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq.”

Earlier this month, IS claimed responsibility for two explosions in Iran’s southeastern Kerman city that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani.