ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that his country warned Iraq repeatedly that its territory should not become a source of insecurity for Tehran, one day after a barrage of ballistic missiles by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the outskirts of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.
“The Zionist regime again and again from inside the Iraqi soil has caused insecurity and slew of anti-revolutionary groups and terrorist groups occur in this country,” State run news agency IRNA quoted the foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying in his weekly press conference.
“It is not acceptable at all that one of our neighbors which has deep relations with us, becomes the focal point of threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.
Iran fired a dozen ballistic missiles at 1:20am on Sunday morning hitting several targets on the outskirts of Erbil. Kurdish authorities confirmed that two civilians suffered minor injuries as a result.
Kurdish authorities have repeatedly said that there are no Israeli bases in the Kurdistan region and on Sunday invited both local and international media to visit the sites of the attacks where civilian residences were extensively damages as a result of the impact of the missiles.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday and agreed to “counter the fabricated set of false narratives used repeatedly in recent years in attacks on Erbil.”
Tehran’s actions were condemned widely by the international community, including the governments in Baghdad and in Turkey.
The US state department condemned the missile attack on Erbil and said no US personnel had been injured and no facilities had incurred any damages.
“We have no indications the attack was directed at the United States,” US State Department said in a statement on Sunday.
IRGC media echoed the same message and said there was no intention to target any US facility in the attack. It claimed responsibility for targeting "the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile," Iranian state media reported
Khatibazdeh called on Iraq to end the use of its territory against Iran once and for all and said that Tehran has surveillance and knowledge of Israeli bases in Iraq, without stating their exact locations.
“Iraq must not become a staging ground for terrorist groups into Iran,” Khatibzadeh said, likely referring to a number of Kurdish opposition groups that are based in the Kurdistan Region and regularly cross the border into Iran to stage attacks.
At least 12 clashes took place last year between Kurdish opposition groups and Iranian security forces in the Kurdish areas in western and northwestern Iran, according to Hengaw, a human rights organization based in the Kurdistan region that monitors clashes in the area. At least 13 members of the IRGC and other security forces were killed in these clashes.
Khatibzadeh also touched upon a number of other issues including the negotiation including talks with Saudi Arabia and nuclear talks in Vienna.
Iraq has been the mediator between Saudi Arabia and Iran, hosting talks in Baghdad since last year. Khatibzadeh stated that the fifth round of talks would resume as soon as Baghdad sets a date.
Khatibzadeh’s remark contradicts reports by an Iranian news outlet affiliated with the country’s top security body on Sunday stating that Tehran had “temporarily suspended” talks with Riyadh.
With regards to the talks in Vienna between Iran and the signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal, Khatibzadeh claimed that Tehran is waiting for the US to make its final decision.
“A number of fundamental issues but limited still remain with decisions need to be taken in Washington,” Khatibzadeh said.
The talks, which have reached their final stage, were paused on Friday after Russian demands complicated negotiations.
According to Khatibzadeh, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is set to travel to Moscow on Tuesday, possibly to negotiate Russia’s demands which have presented the nuclear process with fresh obstacles.
