Last updated: 16.01.2024, 00:03
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In retaliation for recent terrorist attacks, Iran's Revolutionary Guards are firing missiles at Syria. The target is the terrorist militia Islamic State (archive photo). © Vahid Salemi/AP/dpa
After the killing of an Iranian general in Syria and a terrorist attack, Iran has vowed revenge. Now the Revolutionary Guard is attacking targets in Iraq and Syria. How is the U.S. reacting?
Tehran - Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) say they have attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with multiple ballistic missiles. The attacks are revenge for the devastating attack in the southern Iranian city of Kerman at the beginning of January and the killing of a high-ranking IRGC officer at the end of December, the IRGC web portal said on the night (local time).
The target in Iraq's Kurdish regions was described by the Revolutionary Guard as a spy center of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. "We assure our beloved people that the offensive operations of the Revolutionary Guard will continue until even the last drop of the martyrs' blood is avenged," it said in a statement.
Security circles: Four dead and five injured in Erbil
Loud explosions were heard in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil shortly before midnight (local time). According to eyewitnesses, several rockets landed near a new US consulate under construction. According to security sources in Erbil, four civilians were killed. Five others are said to have been injured. Rockets fell on farms north of Erbil and hit houses.
In Syria, according to the Revolutionary Guards, the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) in particular was "located in the occupied territories of Syria and destroyed by the launch of a series of ballistic missiles," the statement said. According to eyewitnesses, there were at least six explosions in Aleppo in northwestern Syria.
The Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw had previously reported on X (formerly Twitter) about a missile attack from an IRGC missile base in western Iran. This was for the city of Erbil, the Norway-based organization wrote. Initially, the information could not be verified.
Situation extremely tense since the Gaza war
The situation in the region has been extremely tense since the outbreak of the Gaza war more than three months ago. There have been no rocket attacks by the IRGC since then. However, Iranian-allied militant groups have often attacked targets in Syria and Iraq in recent months. Israel and the U.S. have been Iran's archenemies since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
At the end of December, Iranian Brigadier General Seyed-Rasi Mousavi was killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria. He was a senior member of the IRGC. Iran's military leadership then vowed revenge to Israel. The Revolutionary Guard is Iran's elite unit and is considered far more powerful than the regular troops. The commander-in-chief is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
More than 90 people were killed in a terrorist attack in the city of Kerman in early January. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. It was held at a memorial service in his hometown to mark the anniversary of the death of powerful General Ghassem Soleimani. It was the deadliest attack in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic. Dpa