Iran Claims Missile Attack On Israeli 'Spy Base' In Iraq

Fears grow of dangerously escalating conflict in Middle East

- CHRIS STEVENSON ,RICHARD HALL

Iraq has vowed to take Iran to the UN Security Council over what Tehran has claimed was an attack on an Israeli "espionage headquarters" in the north of the country - as fears over the spread of conflict across the region in the wake of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza continue to grow.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that it had launched ballistic missiles at the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region where it claimed it hit a complex belonging to Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. However, Iraq’s government issued a statement saying the Iranian attack was “a blatant violation” of its sovereignty and “strongly contradicts the principles of good neighbourliness and international law, and threatens the security of the region”. Local authorities said at least four civilians were killed and six injured.

There has been no comment from Israel.

The IRGC also said it had struck in Syria, against Isis, as part of a response to an attack in the Iranian city of Kerman earlier this month that killed more than 80 people. The bombing attack was claimed by an Isis branch based in Afghanistan, but Tehran – hostile to Israel for decades – claimed that Israel had somehow aided the attack, without providing any evidence.

Many nations across the Middle East have been on edge since a Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October killed 1,200 people and saw over 240 more taken hostage. In response, Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and has launched airstrikes and ground operations inside Hamas-controlled Gaza, backed up by a blockade. Health officials in Gaza say more than 24,000 people have been killed in the three-month conflict.