A Pentagon spokesperson told Newsweek that the Defense Department was 'looking into the reported attack near Erbil.'
The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government's Directorate General of Counter Terrorism reported that 12 ballistic missiles targeted near the U.S. consulate in Erbil and were launched outside of Iraq's borders to the east, where Iran is located.
News and purported footage of the strike were shared widely on social media on Saturday afternoon, early Sunday local time. Rocket attacks have targeted U.S. positions in Iraq for years and have sometimes drawn U.S. strikes against pro-Iran militia positions, most recently ordered by PresidentBut Iran has not directly fired missiles on U.S. positions since January 2020, days after former Presidentordered the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.
The Revolutionary Guard also vowed to take revenge Wednesday after two of it said two of its colonels were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Damascus, where they were said to be supporting the Syrian government's"counterterrorism efforts.
Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency linked the two events in Iraq and Syria in a report Saturday, hinting that the timing was not a coincidence, and that a training center for Israeli spy agency Mossad was the target.The latest escalation comes amid a pause in negotiations over efforts to restore U.S. participation in a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Trump in 2018.Sergeant 1st Class Ryan Sheldon/40th Combat Aviation Brigade/U.S.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Local Iraq veteran planning to join fight in UkraineA local Iraq War veteran is organizing other veterans to join the fight in Ukraine.
Read more »
Iran nuclear talks in doubt after Russia issues new demandsRussia’s eleventh-hour demands are threatening to torpedo negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Western officials and former U.S. officials say.
Read more »
Opinion | Is Russia Trying to Scuttle Iran Nuclear Talks?'If it collapses on the goal line because of Russian sabotage, it further underscores the folly of Biden not going back to the deal via Executive Order on the first day of his presidency.'
Read more »
Russian demands leave Iran talks on brink as negotiations pauseTalks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Friday faced the threat of collapse after a last-minute Russian demand forced world powers to pause negotiations for an undetermined time despite having a largely completed text.
Read more »