TEHRAN – The Iranian
ambassador to Iraq said Monday a retaliatory missile strike by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on secret bases of the Israeli Mossad spy agency in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region was strictly necessary, as operations against Iran’s security were being plotted and orchestrated there.
Iraj Masjedi made the remarks while addressing an international conference in Iraq’s holy city of Karbala.
He said Zionist operatives used the Iraqi Kurdistan region to plot and launch operations against Iran’s security, emphasizing that Iranian officials had time and again warned the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s authorities against their activities, but to no avail.
Masjedi said the missile attack was carried out in order to safeguard Iran’s security, “and was neither intended to violate Iraq’s sovereignty nor was meant to insult the Arab country and its nation”.
“We expect you to force Israelis out of Iraqi soil and get rid of them,” Masjedi addressed Kurdish officials, adding, “However, if they are not expelled, will we stand by with our hands tied behind us to allow them carry out operations against our security? Definitely not.”
The Iranian ambassador emphasized that the attack was aimed at the occupying regime of Israel’s training centers and did not target the United States or the Iraqi government.
“Some media outlets have asserted that we targeted the U.S. consulate. I’m surprised by such allegations. It is true that a conflict has been going on between us and the United States for forty years, but the recent operation was not against them. It was an operation against an Israeli base, where plots against our security were being hatched,” Masjedi said.
Al-Mayadeen television news network said a Mossad base on the Masif-Saladin Street in Erbil was “fully razed to the ground and a number of Israeli mercenaries were killed or injured”.
Iran had warned Iraqi authorities many times that its territory should not be used by third parties to conduct attacks against Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.
“The central government of Iraq has the responsibility to ensure that its territory is not used as a base for attacks by third parties against Iran,” said Khatibzadeh.
“Several times in the past, Iraq’s territory was used against Iran by third parties including terrorist groups such as Kurdish militants, the United States and the Zionist entity,” he added.
“It is in no way acceptable that one of our neighbors, which has deep ties with us, becomes a focal point for threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He said the occupying regime of Israel has repeatedly created security problems for Iran through Iraqi soil, including by organizing anti-establishment rallies and “terrorist groups” in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran expects Iraq’s central government that it will end this situation once and for all, and won’t allow its borders to be taken advantage of, especially considering all the claims of improving ties to new levels that exist between the two countries,” he said, also warning the Zionist regime that Iran is aware of its movements in the region.