Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims to have launched multiple ballistic missiles at Israeli “spy headquarters” and “anti-Iranian terrorist groups” in northern Iraq late Monday as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
The IRGC, which operates under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed credit for the attacks on what they identified as Mossad headquarters after a series of explosions were heard outside the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
No U.S. facilities were struck in the attacks, two U.S. officials told Reuters, though the missiles did land near the U.S. Consulate.
“In response to the recent terrorist crimes of the enemies of Islamic Republic of Iran, the spy headquarters and the gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in parts of the region were targeted by the IRGC’s ballistic missiles in the middle of the night,” the IRGC said in a statement reported by Iranian state media.
“We assure our nation that the Guards’ offensive operations will continue until avenging the last drops of martyrs’ blood,” the IRGC added.
The military act is monumental, as this is the first time since the Hamas attack of October 7 that the Iranian military has directly struck enemy targets. Previous attacks have been carried out by Iran’s terror proxies, including Hezbollah and Houthi militants.
At least four civilians were killed and six injured in the attack, Kurdistan government officials announced.
Prominent Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family were killed when one of the missiles struck their home, Iraqi security officials said.
Coinciding with the strikes in Iraq, the IRGC also targeted the Islamic State in Syria in response to a bombing in Iran that killed over 100 people earlier this month. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, in which two bombs exploded during a commemoration service near the gravesite of former IRGC general Qasem Soleimani on January 3, four years after he was assassinated by the U.S.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said the U.S. is monitoring the situation as it develops.
“We have been in touch with senior Iraqi officials as well as officials in the Kurdistan Region,” Watson 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. The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq,” she continued.
The overnight attacks in Iraq and Syria come hours after the Iran-backed Houthis hit a U.S.-owned and operated cargo ship in the Red Sea earlier Monday.