US Thwarts Iranian Arms Shipment To Houthis

The US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina L. Romanowski, said the missile strikes on the Iraqi Kurdistan Region were “reckless and indiscriminate attacks on civilians" which violated Iraq's sovereignty.

The UK's Ambassador to Baghdad, Stephen Hitchen, also condemned the aggression against Erbil, denouncing it as a breach of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Hitchen extended condolences to the victims' families and expressed support for the Kurdistan Regional Government.

His sentiments were echoed by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron who issued a statement on X condemning the Iranian attacks as "unprovoked and unjustified actions," constituting a violation of Iraq's territorial integrity. Germany, France, and the Netherlands also condemned the assault.

Canada's Ambassador to Iraq, Kathy Bunka, and Japan's envoy to the country, Futoshi Matsumoto, joined in condemning the attack. Matsumoto stressed the importance of respecting Iraqi sovereignty and peace by all parties, while Bunka conveyed condolences to the victims' families and the injured.

The incident occurred late on Monday when Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched 10 ballistic missiles, purportedly targeting the "spy headquarters" of anti-Iran groups in Erbil. The attack resulted in a minimum of four fatalities and 17 injuries.

Iraq's foreign ministry also denounced the Iranian aggression against Erbil, taking diplomatic action by summoning the Iranian charge d'affaires in Baghdad, delivering a protest note condemning the attack. Additionally, Iraq recalled its ambassador to Tehran for consultations in response to the recent Iranian attacks on Erbil.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry, asserted that the attacks aimed “at defending the country's sovereignty and security, combating terrorism.”

Although Iranian state media and news websites affiliated with the IRGC were the first to report the missile and drone attacks, they did not explicitly say that Iran conducted the strikes. Some news websites in Tehran, however, did report that IRGC launched the attack.

However, a statement by the Pakistani government condemned what it said was Iran's violation of its airspace.

"Pakistan strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory which resulted in death of two innocent children while injuring three girls. This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences," Islamabad's statement said.

"These bases were hit and destroyed by missiles and drones," Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. The state-run IRNA news agency and state television had said that missiles and drones were used in the attack. IRNA later pulled the report.

In a statement in response to the attack, Jaish al-Adl said the strikes hit the homes of two of its members, killing two children and injuring two women and a teenage girl.

"At least six suicide drones and several missiles targeted homes where the families, including children and spouses, of members of the Jaish al-Adl organization were residing," read the statement. The group decried the Islamic Republic regime for targeting children, women, and innocent people, saying that "the Revolutionary Guards and decision-makers should be aware that such heinous attacks... will strengthen the determination of the Jaish al-Adl to overthrow their palace of tyranny."

Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice,” is a Sunni militant group founded in 2012 which largely operates across the border in Pakistan. The group has claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past. Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan would be unprecedented for Iran.

Nour News, affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the attack by Iran's Revolutionary Guards targeted bases in the in Zarghoon Mountains in the east of the Quetta District in Pakistan's Balochistan Province.

Nour News claims the Pakistani government does not have full control over this region, and it has turned into a safe haven for militant groups.

Also on Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The attack also happened two days after Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, the special representative of the Iranian president for Afghanistan affairs, arrived in Islamabad at the head of a political delegation upon an invitation by his Pakistani counterpart Asif Durrani.

However, Pakistan's statement made it clear that Tehran did not warn Islamabad about the impending attack. "It is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan's strong protest has already been lodged with the concerned senior official in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran."

The strikes came a day after Iran's Revolutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles which Tehran claimed targeted an Israeli “spy center” but Iraqi Kurdish leaders condemned the ballistic missile launch that killed a wealthy and influential member of their community.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards and regime officials in Tehran took a victory lap on Tuesday while also highlighting that they fired ballistic missiles at northern Syria, in their longest-range attack to date. They claimed they hit ISIS bases, where Afghan Islamic State forces were being trained.

The Afghan ISIS had claimed responsibility for a January 13 twin suicide bombing in Iran that killed nearly 100 people.

In a speech on Tuesday, Ali Khamnenei claimed that the Houthis have struck a blow to the "vital arteries of Israel."

The Shiite Houthi group in Yemen, known as Ansarullah, which has long enjoyed significant financial and military support from the Islamic Republic, has committed dozens of attacks on global shipping, including US and Israeli linked vessels since November.

US and British forces jointly targeted dozens of positions of the militants in response to Houthi attacks on international shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden last Thursday.

Subsequently, the US President announced that Washington had delivered a "private message" to Iran regarding the Houthis and their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, which is a major trade passage, forcing many companies to go longer, more costly routes. The Iranian Foreign Minister confirmed receiving the message but stated that the Houthis would continue their attacks in the Red Sea until the end of the Gaza conflict.

In his speech to Friday prayer leaders in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei, who first called for the blockade in the wake of the Gaza war sparked by Hamas's invasion of Israel on October 7, praised and prayed for the "struggle and resistance" of the Shiite Houthis, urging it to "continue until victory."

He said, "What they did in supporting the people of Gaza is commendable. They struck blows to the vital arteries of the Zionist regime, without fearing the United States."

Khamenei's comments recall his statements about the extremist group Hamas in response to its attack on Israeli soil on October 7 when he said, "We kiss the foreheads and arms of the resourceful and intelligent designers [the operation] and the Palestinian youth." Hamas has also long been supported financially and militarily by Iran in its battle against Israel and the West.

The strike was the latest Western military action against the militant group over its targeting of Red Sea shipping.

US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike on Tuesday targeted four anti-ship missiles. The strike has not been previously reported.

Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping have continued even after President Joe Biden last week ordered an initial wave of strikes to degrade Houthi capabilities.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen's Red Sea coast, have claimed their attacks on commercial ships are aimed at supporting the Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza. The attacks began in mid-November after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for a blockade of Israel.

On Tuesday, Khamenei praised the Houthis, saying that they proved they were not afraid of the United States.

The Houthi movement has pledged to expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include US ships and has vowed to keep up attacks after US and British forces carried out dozens of strikes last week against radar and missile capabilities.

On Monday, Houthi forces struck the US-owned and operated dry bulk ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship ballistic missile, the US military said.

Iraq has close ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, both Shia-dominated governments, but the Iranian attack that destroyed the house of a well-know Iraqi Kurd, killing him and his family, solicited Baghdad’s angry response on Tuesday.

Tehran claimed that it targeted an Israeli “spy center” but Iraqi Kurdish leaders condemned the ballistic missile launch that killed a wealthy and influential member of their community.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards and regime officials in Tehran took a victory lap on Tuesday while also highlighting that they fired ballistic missiles at northern Syria, in their longest-range attack to date. They claimed they hit ISIS bases, where Afghan Islamic State forces were being trained. The Afghan ISIS had claimed responsibility for a January 13 twin suicide bombing in Iran that killed nearly 100 people.

It remains unclear why the IRGC did not target the specific group allegedly responsible for the terror attack in Afghanistan.

Iran’s missile strike in Iraq, however, is likely to deepen worries about worsening instability across the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas started on October 7, with Iran's militant proxy forces also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

There has also been concern that Iraq could again become a theater for regional conflict after a series of US strikes on Iran-linked militant groups that are also part of Iraq's formal security forces. Those strikes came in response to dozens of attacks on US forces in the region carried out since mid-October.

The Guards said the late Monday attack, Iran's first direct military strike in the region linked to the Gaza war, was in response to Israeli 'atrocities" against several of its commanders and those of Iranian-allied forces around the Middle East since the conflict started.

Iraq National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji condemned the strike as an infringement of sovereignty.

"We are very astonished by what happened because the Iraqi government was not informed," he said.

In protest to the strike, Iraq recalled its envoy from Tehran and summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Baghdad, with the foreign ministry saying Baghdad would take all legal steps against what it called a violation of sovereignty.

The strike, on a residential area near the US consulate in Kurdistan's capital Erbil, was described by Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani as a "crime against the Kurdish people" in which at least four civilians were killed and six injured.

Multimillionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family were among the dead, killed when at least one rocket crashed into their home, Iraqi security and medical sources said.

Araji denied the house was an Israeli spy center.

"To respond to the claim that there is a Mossad headquarters we visited the place and toured every corner of this house, and everything indicates that it is a family house belonging to an Iraqi businessman from Erbil," he told reporters.

'RECKLESS'

Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hayman said he would not speculate, when asked at a press briefing about Iran's assertion that it struck a Mossad site.

"What I will say is Iran continues to use its proxies to attack Israel on multiple fronts. We condemn Iran's activities, and we call on the international community to stand up in defiance of Iran and call for peace in the region as soon as possible," he said. 

Defending the attack, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Tehran respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, but it was Iran's "legitimate right to deter national security threats".

The Guards said the attacks would continue "until avenging the last drops of martyrs' blood", referring to the killing of three members of the Guards in Syria last month who had served as military advisers there.

France and Britain accused Iran of violating Iraq's sovereignty and Washington condemned the attacks as "reckless", while American officials said no US facilities were struck and there were no US casualties. 

With reporting by Reuters