Erbil

Unconfirmed reports say explosions occurred near the US consulate and airport, with one US official claiming the rockets came from Iran.

The ballistic missile attack reportedly targeted the US consulate's new building in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The vast majority of attacks against US forces in recent years have been launched using rockets or drones. “It's not only against a military party but against all of society, as a message that we can target you all the time. This is a very aggressive action against a democratic people and society,” Batun told Middle East Eye. Thank God, no one has been injured.” Though neighbouring areas were struck, the attack seems to have only caused material damage. The Kurdistan Regional Council of Ministers condemned the attack, which it said was launched "under the pretext of striking an Israeli base near the US consulate in Erbil, but the target site was a civilian site, and this justification is aimed at concealing the motives of this heinous crime".

A dozen ballistic missiles were fired into the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish region Erbil in the early hours of today, according to Kurdish and Iraqi ...

But numerous mentions by Kurdish officials of the attack originating from the east suggests a belief that the missiles may have been launched from Iran — the source of several similar attacks on northern Iraq in recent years

One of the more notable recent ballistic strikes came on two bases that house US troops — one in Erbil, the other in western Iraq — in early January 2020 in retaliation for the targeted killing by the US of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani on 2 January.

Hiwa Afandi, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government, said today that Erbil International Airport, where US military forces are currently stationed, had not been a target in this latest strike. "The attack did not result in human casualties, only material damages," he said.

Ghafuri added that "none of the missiles" actually hit the US consulate, which is currently under construction, but "areas around the compound" were. The strikes "resulted in the injury of two people," Erbil's governor Omid Khoshnow said.

Speaking to Erbil-based broadcaster Rudaw, governor Omed Khoshnaw said earlier that there was a terror attack against the US Consulate. US defence officials ...

The consulate building is new and unoccupied. The head of Kurdistan’s foreign media office said none of the missiles struck the US facility but that areas surrounding the compound had been hit. Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday claimed to be behind the missile attack on the northern Iraqi city of Erbil hours earlier, targeting what it said was ...

Iran denies involvement in those attacks. Domestic politics have also fuelled violence. Both the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government denounced the attack, adding that "no foreign units" were bombed, in apparent denial of the presence of an Israeli base.

Iran is counting on the US being afraid of “war” whiel Russia wants to return Ukraine to its “near abroad.” Iran wants to ride the Russian train as far as ...

This means Iran is using the Ukraine crisis but also browbeating Russia regarding the Iran deal and using the threat of more deadly attacks to try to get something from the US and see if the US will back down or retaliate. For instance, Iran can read The New Yorker, where US academic John Mearsheimer is quoted. So Iran is upping the deadly game, coming out from the shadows and using drones and missiles directly fired from Iran toward other countries in the region. So Iran now thinks it may be able to try to drive the US out of Erbil in northern Iraq. Iran is watching closely what happens in Russia and Ukraine in this regard. It knows the US could retaliate in Syria – a kind of “everything goes” country where the US can operate with more impunity. The US may be backing down. Tehran also wants to see if the US will respond. Iran wants to showcase its precision and abilities with these types of missiles. Iran’s message may be linked to the breakdown in Iran talks. This means the use of these missiles is not new or unprecedented. The large ballistic-missile barrage on Erbil is not the first time Iran used ballistic missiles like this.