Iran destroys Mossad ‘spy headquarters’ in Iraq as act of revenge for ‘martyred’ Revolutionary Guard soldiers

IRAN said it destroyed an Israeli “spy headquarters” in a missile attack on an area near the US consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. The strike angered officials in Iraq, who condemned the act of “aggression” that led to civilian casualties in residential areas.

Iran claimed that the complex was being used by Israel as “a centre for terror-attacks planning in the region, especially against our beloved country”.

However, Iraqi officials said that Iran had hit a residential area, killing one of Kurdistan’s richest men. Peshraw Dizayee, a multi-millionaire businessman, ran a number of companies and was close to the Barzani family that controls the semi-autonomous region.

“What’s surprising – we are not part of this conflict,” said Masrour Barzani, the regional prime minister. “We don’t know why Iran is retaliating against civilians of Kurdistan, especially in Erbil.”

Iran claimed Israel had used the base to plan the suicide bombing that killed 86 people at a memorial for the Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the US in 2020.

Tehran said that its attack was “in response to the recent evil acts of the Zionist regime in martyring” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, state media reported.

Israel did not acknowledge the attack in Erbil, nor did it comment on or deny the allegation that the target was linked to Mossad, its intelligence agency.

The US strongly condemned Iran’s strikes as “reckless and imprecise”, confirming that none of its personnel or facilities had been hit. It was not immediately possible to independently assess what damage had been caused.

Iraq said that it would file a complaint with the UN Security Council over Iran’s attack, which killed at least six civilians.