U.S. blames Iran for ballistic missile attack on Iraqi Kurdistan

TV studio damaged by Iranian missile attack

(Image credit: SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

published 13 March 2022

U.S. officials blamed Iran after a dozen ballistic missiles struck Irbil, the capital of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, on Sunday, the BBC reports.

Two other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post that the missiles came directly from Iran.

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According to the BBC, the U.S. State Department denounced the attack as "outrageous."

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi took to Twitter, calling the strike "an attack on the security of our people" and promising that Iraq's "security forces will investigate and stand firm against any threats."

Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups previously launched a wave of rocket and drone attacks against U.S.-aligned targets in Iraq and Syria in January. Per the Post, these strikes "did not cause casualties among U.S. service members and were clustered around the second anniversary of the U.S. decision to assassinate revered Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani."

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.