What to Know:
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed responsibility for two ballistic missiles tonight against both Aleppo, Syria, and Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, in an operation targeting “anti-Iranian terrorists.”
The IRGC claimed that the attack on Iraq targeted a “spy headquarters” and that the attack on Syria targeted Islamic State militants in revenge for the Kerman bombing, which left nearly 100 dead at a memorial for IRGC General Qassam Soleimani.
Videos shows the moment of missiles launch from #Iran. pic.twitter.com/ODVnW7JW9l
— Tammuz Intel (@Tammuz_Intel) January 15, 2024
Iraq Attack:
According to Iran state media, the IRGC claimed a responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on Erbil, Iraq, which targeted a “spy headquarters and the gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in parts of the region.”
While it was not specified who the “spy headquarters” belonged to, Iran has targeted Erbil before claiming to have targeting Israeli spy operations in the city.
Iran’s IRGC targets anti-Iran terrorist positions in the Iraqi city of Erbil. pic.twitter.com/VsrSHtccHY
— Press TV (@PressTV) January 15, 2024
Last March, Iran also claimed that it targeted Israeli spy centers in Erbil during a missile barrage against the city, which landed in residential areas in the vicinity of the United States Consulate complex. The strikes came in apparent revenge for the killings of two IRGC colonels during an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria.
Likewise, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization of Iran-backed Shia militias, also claimed responsibility for an attack on a “spy center” in Erbil late last month.
Kurdish officials have consistently denied any presence of Israeli intelligence or military in the region.
Syria Attack:
The IRGC released a statement claiming that it targeted a “gathering places of commanders and main elements related to recent terrorist operations; In particular, ISIS was identified in the occupied territories of Syria and destroyed them by firing a number of ballistic missiles.”
Al-Mayadeen reports six explosions heard in a missile strike southwest of Aleppo, Syria. @syriahr attributes the strike to Israel. Meanwhile, Iraqi media reports a missile attack on an American base in Irbil, northern Iraq. A busy night in the skies of the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/1H4WdZcTg9
— Ariel Oseran (@ariel_oseran) January 15, 2024
It added that the strike was in response to “the recent crimes of the terrorist groups, in the unjust martyrdom of a group of our dear compatriots in Kerman,” referencing the recent ISIS bombing targeting a memorial for IRGC General Qassam Soleimani, which left nearly 100 dead and hundreds of others wounded.
