Iran’s Attack on Iraq Was Directed at US

Both sides are still holding back, but Washington and Tehran could soon be headed for an open conflict.

Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, experienced a bloody night of bombing. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards used 10 ballistic missiles to attack targets that Tehran said were serving as “espionage headquarters” for anti-Iranian groups. Iran regularly claims that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad is stationed in Kurdistan. The fact that retaliation for the attack by the Islamic State in the Iranian city of Kerman was listed as a justification fits this Iranian narrative. According to that claim, the truth is that the U.S. and Israel are behind the Islamic State group, anyway.

Iranian rockets did not hit any U.S. facilities, but they came very close to the new U.S. consulate in Erbil. While condemning the attack, Washington emphasized that no U.S. citizens were injured. Both sides are still holding back from declaring an open exchange of blows between the U.S. and Iranian militaries. In addition, Iran may have raised a fuss about the U.S. attacks on the Houthi military positions in Yemen in recent weeks, but they have not escalated further.

At least, not yet. It is disturbing that Iran is not only sending its proxies, which are numerous in Iraq, but is also getting directly involved. For now, the targets were only “near” U.S. facilities. But it leaves the impression that both sides could be headed for open conflict.