Iran Launches Strikes in Iraq, Syria Amidst Rising Regional Tensions

On Monday evening, Iran launched missile attacks targeting what it claimed were Israeli espionage centers located near the U.S. Consulate in Irbil, a city in northern Iraq, as well as against sites associated with the Islamic State group in northern Syria.

The missile strike in the Irbil area, a wealthy neighborhood and the administrative center of Iraq’s Kurdish region, resulted in the deaths of four civilians and injuries to six others, as reported by the Kurdish regional government’s security council.

The Revolutionary Guards of Iran issued a statement claiming the destruction of a Mossad headquarters in Iraq’s Kurdish region. Additionally, they stated that they had launched multiple ballistic missiles at sites they identified as hosting “terrorist operations,” including Islamic State targets in Syria, effectively destroying them.

Israel has not officially responded to the attack in Irbil, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli embassy in Washington regarding the Iranian allegations about Mossad.

These attacks occur amidst escalating regional tensions and concerns about the potential spillover of the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, Iranian-supported militias in Iraq have frequently used drones to attack bases housing U.S. forces in both Iraq and Syria. These groups have explained their actions as a response to U.S. support for Israel and as part of their effort to drive U.S. troops out of the region.

The U.S. State Department, through spokesman Matthew Miller, has strongly denounced Iran’s missile strikes in Irbil, citing them as detrimental to Iraq’s stability.

A U.S. defense official, speaking anonymously, stated that U.S. facilities were neither hit nor damaged in these attacks, describing the strikes as “reckless and imprecise.” The extent of the damage from the strikes has yet to be fully determined.

An Iraqi security official mentioned that Irbil was hit with “several” ballistic missiles, while an official from an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia reported that around 10 missiles landed near the U.S. Consulate, attributing the launch to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Both officials requested anonymity.

Peshraw Dizayi, a well-known local entrepreneur involved in real estate and security services, was among those killed in the Irbil strikes. This information was confirmed by former Iraqi parliament member Mashan al-Jabouri, who mentioned that one missile hit Dizayi’s residence.

In 2022, Iran acknowledged conducting a missile attack in the same vicinity as the U.S. Consulate complex in Irbil, describing it as retaliation for an Israeli airstrike in Syria that killed two members of the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran’s latest strike in northern Syria followed an Islamic State claim of responsibility for two suicide bombings earlier this month. These bombings, targeting a commemoration event for Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, resulted in at least 84 deaths and 284 injuries. Soleimani was killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike.

Last month, Iran accused Israel of assassinating a high-ranking Iranian general, Seyed Razi Mousavi, in an airstrike in Damascus.