Iran’s ballistic missiles escalate Middle East crisis

Tehran/Washington: Tensions further escalated in the Middle East, with Iranian ballistic missiles targeting Mossad’s espionage headquarters in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and targets in the Idlib region of Syria, in an overnight operation. Iran-backed Hizbollah also staged a missile strike today that it claimed targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in northern occupied Palestine. “The missile attack on the Even Menachem settlement was carried out in support of the Palestinian people and resistance in the Gaza Strip,” it stated. A media report said Israeli fighter jets conducted artillery firing and at least 14 air strikes in south Lebanon, which were the “severest attacks on a single point” during this conflict.

Early today, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), which conducted the operations, issued statements saying its overnight attacks on terrorists in the region were in response to the plot Mossad hatched to assassinate Iranian and resistance commanders, and also the recent terrorist attacks in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman as well as a terrorist attack on the Rasak police station in Sistan.

At least four people were reportedly killed in the missile attack in Erbil including a Kurdish oil tycoon Peshraw Dizayee with alleged ties to Israel, his 1-year-old baby, an Iraqi Christian businessman Karam Mikhael, and a worker.

According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, in a phone call with the IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said four Kheibar Shekan ballistic missiles had been fired from an area in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan to targets controlled by Takfiri groups in Idlib, Syria in the early hours today. He said that the IRGC also fired four missiles from Kermanshah (western Iran) and seven from East Azarbaijan (northwestern Iran) at these targets, while nine more missiles targeted a second group of Takfiris and Daesh “terrorists” in the region.

Following the attack, the Speaker of Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf reportedly remarked today that the IRGC had reminded the United States, and the “Zionist regime” (Israel) that “the era when they used to carry out hit-and-run attacks is long over”.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the missile attacks “are just a part of fair punishment inflicted by Iran on the security offenders”. He further stressed: “While the enemy committed a crime against the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran with its miscalculations, the Islamic Republic of Iran, thanks to its intelligence might, identified the criminals’ headquarters and targeted them with missiles enjoying pin-point accuracy. This action was part of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s response to those threatening its national security and the safety of Iranian citizens.”

The United States “strongly” condemned Iran’s attacks in Erbil today and offered condolences to the families of those who were killed.

“We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes, which undermine Iraq’s stability. We support the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people,” the US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller stated in Washington today.

Also read: How Iran takes on the West over Israel?

Already the USA-Iran relationship has hit an all-time low after the US and British air strikes on Iran-backed Houthi establishments in Yemen on January 11, 2024. Iran condemned the strikes that “clearly breached Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Following the escalation in the region, Iran today stepped up its diplomatic efforts to convince the world community, particularly those critical of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, on the need to stop the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza and the recent developments in the Red Sea.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian today called up the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to tell him that the “illegal” move by the US and Britain to strike Yemen was a “strategic mistake” that would escalate tensions in the region. Amirabdollahian commended Guterres for his efforts and stressed that Israel’s strikes against Gaza should stop. The Iranian foreign minister expressed concern about the “complicated and painful humanitarian situation in Gaza” and said the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

Touching on the recent developments in the Red Sea, the Iranian foreign minister reiterated the Islamic Republic’s principled stance on protecting shipping and navigational security and asserted that Yemen’s goal was to prevent ships from sailing towards the occupied territories to stop the “Zionist regime’s crimes and genocide against the people in Gaza”.

Guterres expressed his opposition to resorting to force and said all sides should stick to the UN Charter and avoid war. Guterres also said Iran plays a significant role in boosting peace and stability in the region.

During the telephone conversation initiated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Amirabdollahian told him that the US sought to militarize the Red Sea, adding Iran had no doubts that such acts would escalate the insecurity in the region. He also described the attacks on Yemen as a “strategic mistake” on the part of the US.

Yesterday, Iran’s President Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi had asked India to play a role in ending the bombings, lifting the blockade of this region and realising the rights of the Palestinian people”. Meanwhile, China today said Syria and Iraq’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected and protected. “We call on relevant parties to exercise restraint, avoid actions that escalate the tension and jointly keep the region peaceful and stable,” the Chinese foreign ministry said, adding that terrorism should be countered under the framework of international law.

– global bihari bureau