Iran warned on Monday March 14 that it will not tolerate "
threats
" from neighboring Iraq, the day after a missile attack claimed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards against a target in Iraqi Kurdistan presented as a "
strategic center
" of Israel.
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"
It is in no way acceptable that one of our neighbors, with whom we have deep relations (...) becomes a source of threats for the Islamic Republic
", declared the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Said Khatibzadeh, during his weekly press conference.
On Sunday, the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, claimed to have targeted a "
strategic center
" belonging to its sworn enemy Israel located in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Kurdish authorities had indicated that "
twelve ballistic missiles
" fired "
outside the borders of Iraq, and more precisely from the East
", had targeted the American consulate in Erbil, without causing any casualties.
For its part, Washington assured that there was "
neither damage nor victim in any of the installations of the American government
".
Baghdad summoned Iranian Ambassador Iraj Masjidi and told him of the federal government's protests over the strikes, which it described as a "
flagrant violation
of Iraq's sovereignty".
"
Iran will not tolerate the presence near its borders of a center of sabotage, conspiracy and dispatch of terrorist groups
" targeting the Islamic Republic, the spokesman warned on Monday, referring to neighboring Iraq .
Iraq shares a long eastern border with Iran, which plays an essential political and economic role for its neighbor.
The Iraqi government
has been repeatedly warned...that its borders with Iran must not be allowed to become unsafe
,” he added.
Rarely claimed, rocket and drone attacks in recent years against American interests and the troops of the international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq are generally attributed by Washington to pro-Iran Iraqi factions, which demand the departure of American soldiers deployed in Iraq.
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The strikes on Erbil came a week after the death in Syria of two senior Guardians, killed in an attack blamed on Israel.
“
The Zionist regime will pay for this crime
,” the Guardians promised.
Iran's sworn enemy, Israel has not yet reacted to these accusations.
