TIMELINE: IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACKS

January 3

Two suicide bombers strike a service commemorating Iranian general Qassem Suleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.

Iranian officials say Israel and the US probably worked with ISIS to carry out the attack.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller issues a statement saying “the United States was not involved in any way,” in the attacks, calling Iran’s accusations “ridiculous”.

“We have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion,” he says. ISIS later claim the attacks, saying they killed Iranian “polytheists.”

January 4

Mohammad Jamshidi, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s deputy, persists with Tehran’s accusations, saying “make no mistake, the responsibility for this crime lies with the US and Zionist regimes and terrorism is just a tool”, as Iran vows retaliation.

January 11

Iran says it has arrested 35 people behind the attacks, including the mastermind of the bombings, a national of Tajikistan.

Tuesday

Iran fires two ballistic missiles with a range in excess of 1000km at what it says are ISIS targets in north-west Syria, as well as a “Mossad headquarters” in Erbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Five civilians, including prominent Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, are killed. Also killed are members of his family including an 11-month-old baby. In Syria, opposition emergency services group the White Helmets says a disused medical centre is struck. Iraq condemns the attack as a violation of its sovereignty and says it will take the matter to the UN. The UN and US government also strongly condemn the attacks.

Yesterday

Iran fires missiles at a house in Balochistan, Pakistan, reportedly the home of a family who run a business selling Iranian diesel.

Two children are killed and four wounded. Pakistan condemns the attack as a “serious” violation of sovereignty, warning it will have “consequences”.

Iran says Baloch separatist group Jaish Al Adl was the target, blaming them for attacks against police in Iran’s Sistan and Balochistan province. While not the first Iranian attack on the group inside Pakistan, it is the first time ballistic missiles have been used at targets in the country.