Amid a new escalation in the Middle East, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital of Erbil on Tuesday, using ballistic missiles to target what it claimed were bases of anti-Iranian terrorist groups.
Iran's strike on Erbil was a “deliberate and calculated” move, aimed at demonstrating its missile capabilities, Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University Qatar, told Sputnik.
“It was a deliberate demonstration by Iran to make sure that its missile abilities are known, and that it is known that Iran can hit its adversaries at long distances and do so with tremendous accuracy and precision,” Mehran Kamrava said.
Furthermore, the strike by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was the longest-range ballistic missile attack that Tehran has engaged in - about 1,200 kilometers, Professor Kamrava clarified.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took responsibility on Tuesday for missile attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital of Erbil, claiming that it targeted bases of anti-Iranian terrorist groups.
Earlier in the day, a security source in Iraq told Sputnik that a number of explosions had occurred in Erbil near the US Consulate General and Erbil International Airport.
"In response to the recent terrorist attacks by Iran's enemies, spy headquarters and enemy headquarters of anti-Iran terrorist groups in parts of the Middle East region were attacked with several IRGC ballistic missiles," the IRGC was quoted as saying by the Tasnim News Agency.
The IRGC fired ballistic missiles at one of the main headquarters of the Israeli secret intelligence service, Mossad, in Iraqi Kurdistan and destroyed it, the report added. The headquarters was reportedly a center for developing special operations and planning terrorist attacks in the Middle East region, in particular in Iran.
Furthermore, Iran's IRGC mounted a retaliatory missile strike on Syrian territory, killing multiple terrorists linked to recent deadly attacks against two Iranian cities, Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday. The IRGC was cited as saying that in response to the attacks in the southeastern cities of Rask and Kerman, it had found and destroyed several key terrorist leaders and militants, in particular from the IS* terrorist group, in Syria's "occupied territories."
The entire situation in the region is “highly fluid and dynamic, and it is very difficult to predict with any level of certainty the next step of the various actors involved,” Mehran Kamrava said. The move by Iran meant as retalation for the twin explosions in Kerman that killed more than 80 Iranians about a week ago was a typical Iranian response.
“They take their time, despite domestic pressure, for an immediate response. They calculate their response, get their intelligence in order,” he added. Iran suffered a deadly terror attack on January 3 after twin suicide bombings. The blasts targeted mourners in Kerman as people were commemorating the anniversary of late IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani’s death.
Iran has since detained 32 people in connection with the Kerman attack. Along with the two bombs which went off, 16 other explosive devices were recently discovered throughout the province by the security services and disarmed, according to Kerman Prosecutor Mahdi Bakhshi. The terrorists had reportedly also planned to plant explosives inside the cemetery itself, but were unable to do so due to the presence of local security forces.
An Afghan offshoot of IS* was responsible for the blasts, seeking to destabilize regional security, Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said. IRGC Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani accused the perpetrators of having been “supplied by the United States and the Zionist regime.”
The US denied that Washington or Tel Aviv had anything to do with the attack.
Iran was "emboldened" to attack Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital of Erbil after the US and UK carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, Michael Maloof, former senior security policy analyst at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, told Sputnik.
This "major escalation" in the region now puts the US "in the position of having to fight a five-front war: Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Syria," Maloof noted. He added that Washington is now going to have to reap the consequences for "supporting Israel in a genocide" that continues in Gaza.
The US and the UK carried out air strikes on Houthi targets in northern Yemen last week with the declared aim of deterring attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea. In the early hours of Friday, the US and the UK carried out 23 airstrikes on targets in four provinces in different parts of Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa and the cities of Al Hudaydah, Taizz and Sadah, local government sources told Sputnik.
A member of the Houthis' high political council, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, described the Western attacks as "barbaric terrorism" and "deliberate and unjustified aggression."
In November, the Houthis announced their intention to attack any ships associated with Israel until Tel Aviv ended its military actions in the Gaza Strip. In December, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of a multinational operation to secure the Red Sea, saying that the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles, and Spain would take part in the mission. The Houthis vowed to attack any ships that join the US-led maritime coalition.
The US and UK either "grossly miscalculated" by attacking Houthis, hoping to bring to an end their activities in the Red sea, or "they deliberately sought to divert global attention from the ongoing genocide of Palestinians by Israel," said Mehran Kamrava. Now, Western media has found a convenient excuse to divert attention from the ongoing genocide in Israel, he noted.
"The US is now making foreign policy on the basis of the upcoming presidential campaign," said the pundit, aimed at enhancing Joe Biden’s chances of reelection, which is "facing a very uphill battle."
Looking ahead, Michael Maloof warned that Iran could retaliate further if there's any attack by the United States directly, by closing the Strait of Hormuz.
"So this is probably going to be the next level, and then the US will further respond, most likely by hitting oil refineries, and this will create a total escalation. This is a total prescription for disaster, and United States needs to stop it immediately,” Michael Maloof warned.
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