Iran-Iraq relations strained after missiles strike Kurdistan

Officials in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq on Tuesday condemned a missile attack launched Monday night on the city of Erbil by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The strike killed at least four people in a neighborhood near the United States consulate compound, according to Iraqi officials. In response, Iraq on Tuesday recalled its ambassador from the Iranian capital of Tehran and summoned Iran’s envoy in Baghdad to protest the attack. The U.S. Department of State called the strike “reckless” and an attempt to “undermine Iraq’s stability.”

Why did Iran launch the strike? Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the group had targeted a spy headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, which it claimed was launching espionage operations in the region. Iraqi officials said the building was not related to Mossad. A separate strike hit targets connected to the so-called Islamic State group in Syria, Iranian officials said. The IS terrorist group earlier this month claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings that killed more than 80 people in Iran during a memorial ceremony.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Mindy Belz’s report about how Kurdish forces fought against Islamic State in 2016.