US condemns Iranian attack in Iraq near American consulate

U.S. officials are condemning an attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp on Iraq’s Kurdistan region that struck near the U.S. consulate on Monday night, Jan. 15. The IRGC took responsibility, saying it launched ballistic missiles to destroy an Israeli spy site.

According to Iranian state-run media, the IRGC said in a statement it launched missiles “to destroy espionage centres and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the region late tonight.”

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The Kurdistan Regional Security Council said four people were killed in the attack, and six others were wounded. In a statement, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. strongly condemns Iran’s missile strikes in Iraq, which undermine Iraq’s stability.

“These attacks are a clear violation to the Iraqi Sovereignty,” said Dr. Hemn Hawrami, Deputy Speaker of Kurdistan Region Parliament. “The Iraqi federal government and the international community need to stand against this crome.”

The IRGC also claimed it hit ISIS targets in Syria. White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the U.S. has tracked the missiles that impacted northern Iraq and Syria and said no U.S. personnel or facilities were targeted.

“We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes,” Watson said. “The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq.”