Iraq questions Iran’s pretense of Erbil’s bombardment
A destroyed building in Erbil following missile attack. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, confirmed on Saturday that Baghdad did not find any evidence that the site Iran bombarded in Erbil city last March was being used by the national intelligence agency of Israel (Mossad).
In a televised interview, Hussein talked about details of his meeting with political and security leaders in Tehran following the missile bombardment that targeted Erbil. “If Iran has evidence, it must show it. Iran suggested to send an investigation committee but it never came,” Hussein explained.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister also called on Iran to provide evidences regarding the Israeli existence in the place bombarded in Erbil.
Hussein also indicated that Iran’s claim that it provided information to the Iraqi intelligence before the bombardment is false, and Baghdad did not receive any information related to presence of Israeli elements in the site.
In a message to Tehran, Hussein stated that such incident should not be repeated, stressing that Erbil is an Iraqi land.
“We find it strange that Iran chose Kurdistan region to respond to Israel,” Hussein said.
On March 13, the Iranian revolutionary Guard officially declared its involvement in Erbil’s attack as an official statement mentioned that the Iranian revolutionary Guard targeted ‘the strategic center of the Israeli conspiracy’ using precise missiles, but Kurdistan’s government confirmed that the attack targeted a civilian site.
Later after the attack, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian ambassador to Iraq and handed him a protest note.
Kurdistan’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) had clarified that 12 ballistic missiles fired from outside the borders, from the east, targeted a site in Erbil. The attack did not cause any casualties, and only resulted in material damages.