ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has not provided "tangible" evidence that March’s missile attack in Erbil targeted an Israeli base, Iraq’s foreign minister told Rudaw on Tuesday, adding that a joint committee will be formed between the two countries to reach a decisive result.
While attending a conference in Brussels on the future of Syria on Tuesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein spoke to Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman and discussed the latest updates in the investigations into the Iranian missile attack on Erbil.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) struck Erbil with twelve ballistic missiles in the early hours of March 13, with at least four landing on the residence of business tycoon Baz Karim Barzinji. The IRGC claimed to have targeted “the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile." Kurdish authorities vehemently rejected this accusation.
A report by the Iraqi parliament’s fact-finding committee formed to investigate March’s Iranian missile attack in Erbil, a copy of which has been obtained by Rudaw, found no evidence to support the accusations made by Iran that the site was an Israeli base, nor the involvement of Karim in any form of political activity or movement.
Hussein stated that in addition to the parliamentary committee that was formed to investigate the incident, a similar committee was formed by the government, which essentially yielded the same results. He added that he was accompanied by the committee during his April visit to Tehran, and they presented the findings to the Iranians, who failed to present convincing evidence to justify the attack.
“We did not see any tangible evidence. They only talked about it,” said Hussein.
As neither side has been able to convince the other, the Iraqi foreign minister stated they are continuing their communications with the Iranian side, and a joint committee will be formed between the two countries to investigate the incident further.
“A joint committee will be formed between Iran and Iraq, with the help of the [Kurdistan] Region, so that they can reach a result together. The results of the investigations of that committee will light the path for us and then we will know how to decide,” Hussein said.
Hussein’s statements come as Ahmed al-Sahaf, spokesperson for Iraq's foreign ministry, had previously told Rudaw in April that during the visit to Iran, Baghdad asked Tehran to provide proof and evidence justifying the missile attack in Erbil, to which the Iranian side provided an insufficient response.
“The Iranian side presented a number of justifications, while no clear positions and evidence were presented to justify the recent strike that affected the diagnosed site in Erbil province,” Sahaf told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman, adding that they wanted “clear evidence to rely on, for the Iraqi government to deal with it seriously.”
On Wednesday, Iran bombarded Barbzin heights in Erbil’s Sidakan area, allegedly targeting bases of Kurdish opposition groups in the area. Iraq's foreign ministry condemned the incident, stressing that Iraqi land should not be used to threaten the security of its neighboring countries.
Hussein traveled to Tehran on April 14, accompanied by Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasem al-Araji, in order to discuss bilateral relations, regional issues, and Baghdad’s role in facilitating dialogue between Tehran and Riyadh.
