ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that its ground forces launched a combined missile and drone attack on a US base in Erbil, claiming the strike destroyed a repair center and technical equipment warehouses and set fuel tanks on fire.
The IRGC said the attack also destroyed what it described as “the guidance system for the American spy balloon at the base” and killed “a number of the aggressors.”
The attack comes amid a sharp escalation between Washington and Tehran after the US struck dozens of targets across southern Iran overnight. IRGC retaliated by firing barrages of missiles and drones at Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Erbil on Wednesday morning.
There was at least one interception over Erbil, with at least two explosions heard in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Videos obtained by Rudaw show a small fire near Erbil International Airport after two loud explosions were heard across the city early Wednesday.
President Donald Trump threatened that the US response would be far stronger. “If the failed nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level,” Trump said.
The IRGC and its Iraqi Shiite militia have fired over a thousand missiles and drones at the Kurdistan Region targeting the US base inside Erbil airport, as well as civilian areas and the residences of several Kurdish leaders.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Tuesday that “US forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran,” describing the operation as retaliation for Iranian actions involving the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials had vowed a forceful response. IRGC spokesperson Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi said Tuesday that “a severe punishment awaits the aggressors,” warning that the US “will come to regret its new strikes.”
