By Pishtaz | 2024-01-19

The United States condemned as "reckless" recent Iranian strikes in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan, saying they violate the sovereignty of the three countries and fuel further instability in the region.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday (January 15) launched 15 ballistic missiles on Iraq and Syria against what it called "anti-Iranian terrorist groups."

Iran launched at least 11 missiles targeting what it claimed was an Israeli intelligence headquarters, near the new US consulate compound that remains under construction in Erbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdish region.

Hours later, three armed drones were shot down over Erbil's airport, where US forces are based as part of an international coalition battling the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).

Iran launched the other four missiles at Syria, saying the strikes were in response to twin suicide bombings in the city of Kerman earlier this month.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly blasts during a memorial for former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani that left scores dead and wounded.

False allegations

Baghdad recalled its ambassador to Iran a day after the attack on Erbil killed four civilians and injured at least six, according to the region's security council.

After touring the building that was hit, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji dismissed as "false" Iran's claim that it hit an Israeli intelligence base in Erbil.

"Concerning the alleged presence of a headquarters of Israel's Mossad, we visited the house, we inspected every corner of it and everything indicated that it was the family home of an Iraqi businessman," al-Araji told Kurdish television station K24.

The Iraqi government condemned the missile strikes as an "attack on its sovereignty."

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani called the strike "a clear act of aggression" in remarks to Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Iraqi authorities "will take all legal steps" necessary, including "lodging a complaint with the [United Nations] Security Council," the foreign ministry said in statement.

The Kurdish region's Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Davos on Tuesday, where the Kurdish leader criticized the attacks as "unjustified and illegal" and called on the international community "not to remain silent," his office said.

"The United States strongly condemns ... Iran's reckless missile strikes, which undermine Iraq's stability," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also condemned Iran for its deadly missile strikes in Erbil.

"These unprovoked and unjustified actions are an unacceptable violation of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said on Tuesday.

Security cooperation

It was the second time since March 2022 that the IRGC had directly targeted Erbil, allegedly against sites used by Israel. In 2022, the home of another Kurdish businessman was targeted with at least eight ballistic missiles.

Kurdish authorities insist Israel has no sites in or near Erbil.

Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden's national security advisor, met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday and offered greater security cooperation after the Iranian strikes.

Sullivan spoke with al-Sudani about "Iran's reckless ballistic missile attacks," a White House statement said.

The two sides "discussed the importance of stopping attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria and committed to enhancing security cooperation as part of a long-term, sustainable defense partnership," the statement said.

At least 130 attacks against US and other foreign troops, including 53 in Iraq and 77 in Syria, were recorded between October 17 and January 11, according to the Pentagon.

Most of the drone or rocket attacks have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups.

'Destabilizing' attack on Pakistan

Later Tuesday night, Iran launched missiles and drones against targets inside Pakistan that Tehran alleges were bases of Jaish al-Adl.

Jaish al-Adl is an Iranian militant group that opposes Tehran for its alleged oppression of the Baloch ethnic community in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The attack killed two children and injured other civilians, Islamabad said, before recalling its ambassador from Iran on Wednesday in protest against the "unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan's sovereignty."

Tehran has violated the "sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple of days," Miller, the US State Department spokesperson, said Wednesday.

"I think it is a little rich for, on one hand, Iran to be the leading funder of terrorism in the region, the leading funder of instability in the region, and on the other hand, [to claim] that it needs to take these actions to counter terrorism," he said.

On Thursday, Pakistan's foreign ministry said it fired retaliatory rockets and drones targeting Baloch militants in Iran "in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities."

The United States urged Pakistan and Iran to avoid escalating tensions.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States was monitoring the situation "very, very closely" and was in touch with Pakistani officials.

"These are two well-armed nations, and again we don't want to see an escalation," Kirby told journalists traveling with President Joe Biden aboard Air Force One.

Kirby, however, said Islamabad had a right to defend itself.

"They were struck first by Iran, which was obviously another reckless attack, another example of Iran's destabilizing behavior in the region," he added.

"We don't believe this should escalate in any way, shape or form," Miller told reporters at a State Department briefing. "Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of the United States; that will remain the case, but we would urge restraint in this case."

UN chief Antonio Guterres was also "deeply concerned" by the Iran-Pakistan strikes, his spokesman said.