LONDON: Masrour Barzani -- Prime Minister of Kurdistan region in Iraq -- has accused Iran of killing innocent civilians in its strikes on the capital city Erbil, media reports said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards earlier said they attacked an Israeli spy centre in the region, The Guardian reported.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos after the attack, Barzani said the Iranian allegations are baseless and added US forces must withdraw from the country.
Iraq on Tuesday condemned Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil which led to civilian casualties in residential areas.
The Iraqi government will take all legal measures against these actions that are considered a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and the security of its people, including filing a complaint at the United Nations Security Council, media reports said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also claimed an attack in Syria. The group said it had fired a number of ballistic missiles at “terrorist operations” in the country -- including IS targets -- and destroyed them.
A US defence official said the US tracked the missiles, which hit in northern Iraq and northern Syria, and initial indications were that the strikes were “reckless and imprecise”.
The strikes in northern Syria came after IS claimed responsibility earlier this month for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 US drone strike. That attack killed at least 84 people and wounded an additional 284 at a ceremony honouring former Revolutionary Guard Gen Qassem Suleimani, The Guardian reported.