The Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday evening that it had filed a complaint against Iran with the United Nations Security Council over Iran’s missile attack on the city of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which resulted in civilian casualties and injuries.
In a statement, the ministry said that Iraq had submitted a complaint to both the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations, related to “the Iranian missile aggression that targeted Erbil, leading to the death of innocent civilians, injuries to others, and damage to public and private properties.”
The ministry added that it had raised the complaint in two identical letters to both the UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN Security Council through Iraq’s Permanent Representation in New York.
The letters emphasized that “this aggression constitutes a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the security of the Iraqi people,” according to the ministry’s statement.
Iraqi Condemnation
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry had previously summoned the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Baghdad and handed him a note of protest, expressing its strong condemnation and denunciation of “the assault”.
The Iraqi government expressed its vehement condemnation and denunciation of what it described as “the Iranian aggression on the city of Erbil and the ballistic missile bombardment of secure residential areas”.
The Iraqi National Security Advisor, Qasim al-Aaraji, claimed that Iran’s assertion of targeting a Mossad headquarters in Erbil was “baseless”.
Al-Aaraji, along with the Minister of Interior of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Reebar Ahmed, inspected areas in Erbil that were affected by the Iranian shelling, which resulted in civilian casualties and injuries.
Both the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government condemned the Iranian shelling and called for an investigation into the incident.
On Monday evening, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that it had carried out missile strikes in the city of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, targeting what it claimed to be a “main headquarters of the Israeli foreign intelligence service (Mossad)”.
On Tuesday morning, the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council announced in a statement that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had launched a ballistic missile attack on several areas in Erbil on Monday evening; resulting in the death of 4 civilians and injuring 6 others.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, stated that the Iranian shelling of Erbil represents “an aggressive act and a serious development that undermines the strong relations between Baghdad and Tehran,” as he put it.
Tehran Defends
For its part, the Iranian Foreign Ministry earlier claimed that the Revolutionary Guard’s strike on a “Mossad spy center” in Erbil was in defense of what it called “Iran’s national security to counter terrorism”.
The ministry added that Tehran is committed to the security and stability of the region but reserves the right to deter “sources of terrorism”.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry noted that the Revolutionary Guard’s strike on terrorist leaders and elements in Syria is also part of the “accountability of those who threaten its national security”.
On Tuesday evening, Iranian state media reported that Iran had bombed with missiles and drones two headquarters of an armed group in Pakistan, following strikes in Iraq and Syria that Tehran said were also part of “accountability for those who threaten its national security”.
The bombings destroyed two main headquarters of the “Jaish Al-Adl” group in the Balochistan region of southwestern Pakistan, according to official media.
The Iranian bombings across the region occurred after more than 100 people were killed and dozens injured in a dual explosion on January 3 in the city of Kerman, close to the grave of the former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani, during a gathering to mark the fourth annual commemoration of his assassination by a US strike.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the blast, which came at a time when Tehran vowed to take revenge on the perpetrators of the attack, described as the deadliest in the country since the Iranian Revolution that overthrew the royal regime in 1979.
