Iraq
Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani assess the missile wreckage in Erbil on March 14, 2022. Photo: Iraqi Prime Minister's Media Office/AFP
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqis have expressed their anger at Iran's Sunday missile attack on the Kurdistan Region's capital city of Erbil.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for firing a dozen ballistic missiles on Sunday, hitting several targets on the outskirts of Erbil and injuring two civilians
The events drew harsh condemnation from the streets of Iraq's capital of Baghdad, with many believing that the Iraqi government should hold Tehran accountable for the violation of its sovereignty.
"No honorable Iraqi accepts the bombing of anywhere in Iraq, from Zakho to al-Faw," Haitham Latif, a government civil servant in Baghdad told Rudaw's Halkawt Aziz on Tuesday. "This should not happen."
"Our neighbor Iran will have to protect Iraq. Israel is close and they can target it. Why should they bombard Erbil?" Latif added angrily.
The attack was conducted on the basis of targeting a secret Israeli base in the city, an accusation categorically denied by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The attack was widely condemned by diplomatic missions, local and international communities.
The Iraqi government, parliament, and Kurdish authorities have all separately launched investigations into the allegations made by Iran.
The United States on Wednesday requested a UN Security Council meeting to condemn Iran’s missile attack on the Kurdistan Region while calling for Tehran to be held accountable.
Baghdad and Erbil have summoned Iranian diplomats over the attack.
Sajjad Abdulman'm is a worker in Baghdad. He told Rudaw on Tuesday that Iran and Iraq have good relations, and wondered why Tehran targets the Kurdistan Region rather than Israel - Iran's historic foe.
"Go strike Israel itself and kill them, I do not care. Why are you coming and killing Iraqis? Do they think Iraq is Israel, how is that?" he said.
"The Iraqi government has been an Iranian government since 2003. What advantages have we seen from them from the Dawa Party to all the other parties? What have we seen from them?" Nazim Abdulrazzaq, a shopkeeper, asked.
"The result is that our country does not have its sovereignty at all. On what ground do they fire missiles on Kurdistan?" he noted.
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