ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - In the late hours of Monday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched 10 ballistic missiles towards the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil, under the pretext of targeting “spy headquarters” of anti-Iran groups, killing at least four and wounding 17 others.
The attack, launched at around 11:30 Monday evening, targeted Erbil’s Pirmam road and Khanzad area. At least five of the missiles targeted the residence of Peshraw Dizayee, a well-known Kurdish businessman.
Dizayee, a well-known Kurdish businessman and the owner of Falcon Group which runs major projects such as Empire World, succumbed to his injuries around 1:00 am on Tuesday. The attack also claimed the life of his young daughter Zhina, just ten days before her first birthday.
#BREAKING: Footage submitted by eyewitnesses shows the moments when several ballistic missiles hit Erbil province on Monday evening
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 15, 2024
READ MORE: https://t.co/PK3JCiHzHM pic.twitter.com/4Cn5NohQdv
Dizayee’s wife Hana Jutyar, 7-year-old son Rawan, 26-year-old Rozh, and one of their housekeepers were wounded in the attack. Rozh has reportedly lost one of his hands in the attack. One housekeeper also died as a result of the strike.
Karam Mikhail, a businessman and owner of Rayyan al-Iraq Group, who was attending a social gathering at Dizayee’s house, was also killed in the attack.
Born in 1981 in the UK, Mikhail resided in the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai and was a contractor on Erbil’s Boulevard residential complex.
Born in 1981 in the United Kingdom, Mikhail resided in the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai and was a contractor on Erbil’s Boulevard residential complex. pic.twitter.com/VBkoUmELni
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 16, 2024
The IRGC claimed responsibility for the strike, claiming to have targeted “spy headquarters and gatherings of anti-Iran groups” in Erbil. In a later statement on early Tuesday, the IRGC claimed that "three Mossad bases" were targeted in the Erbil bombardments, despite the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) having categorically rejected the presence of Israeli intelligence in the Kurdistan Region.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned in the strongest terms the "cowardly attack on the people of the Kurdistan Region,” urging the Iraqi federal government to “take a principled position against the flagrant violation of Iraq’s and the Kurdistan Region’s sovereignty.”
The US State Department on Tuesday offered condolences to the families of the victims of the IRGC attack on Erbil, adding that it strongly condemned the “reckless” strikes. The White House National Security Council confirmed that no US personnel or facilities were targeted.
Stephen Hitchen, the United Kingdom's ambassador to Iraq, condemned the attack on Erbil, calling it "a violation” of the country’s sovereignty, while extending his condolences to the families of the victims and reaffirming his support for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Canadian Ambassador to Iraq Kathy Bunka also condemned the strike on behalf of her country, and extended her condolences to the victims’ families.
The Iraqi foreign ministry on Tuesday morning expressed its "strong denunciation and condemnation of the Iranian aggression" against Erbil, calling it a violation Iraq’s security and sovereignty, and an insult to “good neighborly relations.”
Baghdad will pursue legal measures against Tehran and submit a complaint to the United Nations’ Security Council regarding the attacks, according to the ministry’s statement, adding that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has decided to form a security committee to investigate the incident and “support the [Iraqi] government’s stance internationally.”
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani last week said that the Region will not become a “source of threat” to Iran, amid threats by the IRGC to launch attacks on Erbil for allegedly housing secret Mossad bases.
In late December, KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani reiterated that there are no Israeli bases in the Kurdistan Region, a day after a pro-Iran militia claimed it had struck an Israeli base in Erbil with a drone.
In March of 2022, Iran attacked Erbil with twelve ballistic missiles, striking the residence of a well-known Kurdish businessman. The IRGC claimed responsibility for targeting “the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile.”
Updated at 10:16 am
