The IRGC says it fired ballistic missiles at “spy centers” in a northern Iraqi city and attacked targets in Syria.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at what it described as enemy sites in Erbil, a city in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, according to a statement carried by Iranian state media.
“Tonight ballistic missiles were used to destroy spy centers and meetings of anti-Iran terrorist groups in the region,” the statement said.
At least eight explosions were heard in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, early Tuesday.
Air traffic at Erbil airport was also stopped, three security sources told Reuters news agency.
A subsequent statement from the IRGC, shared by the Iranian news agency IRNA, claimed that the group had attacked the headquarters of the Israeli spy agency Mossad in Erbil.
“This is a terrorist attack, an inhumane act that has been carried out against Erbil. Erbil will not be scared or shaken,” Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw said, according to Iraqi media outlet Rudaw.
It was not immediately clear if there were any deaths or injuries associated with the explosions, but two U.S. officials told Reuters that the attacks did not hit any U.S. facilities and there were no American casualties.
Meanwhile, Hemn Hawrami, a prominent Kurdistan Democratic Party politician, said on social media platform X that at least five people were killed in the explosions.
“Tonight is unjustified [sic] The attacks in Erbil by the IRGC targeted a civilian house. The owner of the house, Peshraw Dizaiy and 4 members[s] members of his family lost their lives,” he said. wrote. Those deaths have not yet been confirmed.
The attacks come amid heightened fears that Israel's continued military offensive in the Gaza Strip could lead to broader regional escalation.
Since the Gaza war began in early October, US and allied forces have faced dozens of attacks in Iraq and Syria, which US President Joe Biden's administration has attributed to armed groups affiliated with Iran.
The IRGC also said it launched missile strikes against “perpetrators of terrorist operations in the Islamic Republic, particularly ISIL.” [ISIS]” in Syria, state media reported.
“The Guards identified and destroyed meeting places of their commanders and key elements with a series of ballistic missiles in response to recent terrorist atrocities in Iran,” the statement said.
ISIL claimed responsibility for an attack in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman earlier this month that killed nearly 100 people.
Al Jazeera's Ali Hashem reported that “Iran has been trying, as far as possible, to distance itself from any kind of tension” in the region amid Israel's war in Gaza, which began on October 7 and has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians.
“This is the first time we see the Iranians go a step further,” Hashem said, describing Tuesday's attacks as a “new escalation.”
