Towards least 12 ballistic missiles were fired at the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on Sunday, near the US Consulate building, according to local and US officials, in an act blamed on neighbouring Iran and likely to escalate regional tensions.
⦾ Although no one has claimed credit for the strike and no organization or government has claimed blame, a US official told Reuters that the missiles were launched from Iran.
⦾ According to the Associated Press, Iraqi officials claim the missile hit the US embassy. Still, US officials insist there was no damage to any US government property and no indication that the consulate was the intended target.
⦾ The chief of the regional foreign media office subsequently stated that none of the missiles reached the US facility, but that areas around the complex were impacted.
⦾ The "outrageous attack" on Iraqi sovereignty was decried by a State Department official.
⦾ According to the Associated Press, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported the incident, citing Iraqi media sources, but made no mention of its source.
US soldiers stationed in Erbil have been subjected to rocket and drone assaults in the past, claimed on Iran-backed militia groups, although such rocket strikes have not occurred in some months. The purported employment of ballistic missiles in Sunday's strike signals a more substantial escalation since the previous one, which occurred more than two years ago. In reaction to the death of Iran's military leader Qassem Soleimani by the US military in January 2020, Iran fired ballistic missiles towards US airbases in Erbil and Anbar provinces. The incident on Sunday comes after an Israeli air raid on Damascus earlier this week, which killed dozens of people.
