Innocent civilians targeted by Iranians in Erbil: Premier of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday said that innocent civilians were targeted by the Iranians and allegations about a “spy base are baseless.”

Speaking to reporters in Davos, Switzerland, where he went to attend the World Economic Forum, Barzani said that US troops are in Iraq "to fight terrorism," but terrorism has not ended.

"Last night's event is an indication that stability in the region is still very much at stake and we need international cooperation and support to bring more stability to Iraq and the region as a whole," he told reporters.

Asked about the overnight missile attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Erbil, northern Iraq where Iraqi businessman Peshraw Dizayee and his one-year-old daughter Zhina were killed, Barzani said: "What's surprising - we are not a part of this conflict."

Saying that they don’t know why Iran is "retaliating against civilians" of northern Iraq, especially in Erbil, the KRG prime minister added they have "no animosity" towards any neighbors.

"We don't know what the reasons are, but all the allegations they have made are baseless," said Barzani.

"So far, all we have seen are innocent civilians that have been targeted by the Iranians," he noted, expressing his hope that the federal government in Iraq and the international community will take all the measures to stop such attacks in the future.

The IRGC said it launched ballistic missiles at positions of "anti-Iran terrorist groups" and their backers in Syria and Iraq.

The IRGC also claimed to have destroyed the local headquarters of Israeli spy agency Mossad in Erbil.