Ballistic missiles fired by Iran caused explosions near the U.S. consulate and a U.S. military facility after a missile struck Erbil in northern Iraq, officials said Monday.
No casualties or damage have been reported and National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said no U.S. personnel or facilities were targeted.
Kurdish officials said four people were killed and six wounded by the strike.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said ballistic missiles were fired at midnight local time in response to what it called terrorist crimes. It said in a statement that it hit a “major spy headquarters,” belonging to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. It added that it was “responsible for developing and launching espionage operations and planning terrorist activities in the region, especially against Iran.”
Israel has not commented on the attack.
Watson, the NSC spokesperson, said the U.S. tracked the missiles that struck in northern Iraq and northern Syria.
Noting that Iran’s statement focused on terrorist attacks in Iran and on the Islamic State terrorist group, she 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 U.S. State Department condemned what it called Iran’s attacks on Erbil.
“We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes, which undermine Iraq’s stability. We support the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Denouncing the attack on X, Iraq’s foreign ministry said that it “considers this behavior an aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq and the security of the Iraqi people.” It added that it was “an insult to good neighborliness and the security of the region.”
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani had formed a committee to investigate the attack, the post said.
In a later post, the foreign ministry said it recalled Naseer Abdul-Muhsin, Iraq’s ambassador in Tehran to discuss the strike.
Earlier this month in Kerman, more than 80 people were killed when two explosions rocked a memorial event for Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian general killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike.
An ISIS affiliated group later claimed responsibility for the attacks, and said two suicide bombers detonated explosive belts.
Iranian officials previously announced arrests in connection with the attacks in Kerman, according to state media.
Iran had already 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.
Abigail Williams contributed.
