Kurdish businessman thanks parliamentary committee, denounces Iranian missile strike on his property

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish businessman whose house bore the largest brunt of the Iranian missiles that targeted Erbil in March expressed his regards on Sunday towards a parliamentary fact-finding committee after its report last week discredited the validity of the strikes.

The report confirmed that "the justifications for the attack were invalid and based on misleading information," Baz Karim Barzinji said on his Twitter, adding that "a serious error in assessment and information occurred," on the side of the perpetrators.

Investigations into the missile attack in a report by the Iraqi parliament's fact-finding committee found no evidence to support the Iranian accusations and concluded that Karim's residence was neither an Israeli base nor was he involved in any form of political activity or movement.

Under the pretext of striking an Israeli base, Iran fired a dozen ballistic missiles targeting areas surrounding the US consulate building in Erbil in the early hours of March 13, injuring two civilians and causing severe material damage to houses. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for targeting "the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile," an accusation vehemently rejected by Kurdish authorities.

At least four missiles landed on the residence of Karim, the CEO and founder of the Iraqi-Kurdish oil company KAR group, an individual whose house Iran claimed harbored a secret Mossad (Israeli intelligence) base in Erbil.

Karim further called on the Iraqi government to defend the country's sovereignty and play its role in "protecting the Iraqi citizen and providing him with security and safety inside his country," as the missiles injured a civilian in the perimeter of the strikes.

Ahmed al-Sahaf, the spokesperson for Iraq's foreign ministry, stated that during his recent visit to Iran, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein requested that the country provide proof and evidence justifying the missile attack in Erbil, to which the Iranian side provided an insufficient response.

The US also condemned the strikes, saying that "Iran must be held accountable for this flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty and for terrorist attacks on innocent civilian properties."

Fingers have largely been pointed at Iran-backed militias for rocket and drone attacks in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, with airports and US bases among the primary targets.

There were at least 30 reported rocket and drone attacks on bases and facilities housing US forces and personnel in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region last year, and at least ten attacks on US bases in Iraq in the first four months of 2022, according to data compiled by Rudaw English.
 
In addition to the 12 ballistic missiles fired on March 13, the first third of the year also saw at least three Katyusha rockets fired at Kawergosk oil refinery; one of the largest refineries in the Kurdistan Region, operated by Karim’s KAR Group.

The use of ballistic missiles remains rare. Aside from the strikes in March, they were last used on January 8, 2020, when Iran attacked an Iraqi air base in retaliation for the killing of top Iranian Commander Qasem Soleimani.