US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned an Iranian missile attack near Erbil in Iraq in a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Sunday, according to a US State Department press release.
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Blinken condemned the attacks that “violated Iraq’s sovereignty and expressed solidarity with the Iraqi people,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in the statement.
“The Secretary and the Prime Minister agreed the attack demonstrates the need for Iraqi unity and the urgency of forming a government accountable to the Iraqi people that protects Iraq’s territorial integrity,” Price added.
Blinken also conveyed the US’ commitment to working with the Iraqi government and others in the region to hold Iran accountable.
A dozen ballistic missiles targeted sites in Erbil including a new US consulate under construction earlier on Sunday, causing damage but no major casualties, Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan security forces said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) later claimed the attack, which it said targeted Israeli “strategic centers” in Erbil.
The attack came after the IRGC announced last Tuesday that an Israeli strike killed two of its members in Syria and vowed to take revenge.
Price told reporters separately that no US facilities were damaged and no American personnel injured, adding that there was no indication the attack was directed at the US.
The US is working with the Iraqi government to develop missile defense capabilities, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
A social media report from a journalist at Kurdistan24 claims that the attack damaged the offices and studios of the television news station in Erbil.
Al Arabiya English’s Tuqa Khalid contributed to this report.
Read more:
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Missiles launched from Iran targeted new US consulate in Erbil: Report
