Iran's Guards Take Responsibility For Missile Attack On Erbil

Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has released a statement taking responsibility for the ballistic missile attack on Iraq's Kurdish regional capital of Erbil.

The Sunday statement coming hours after the attack said Israeli "strategic centers" were targeted “last night with precision-guided missiles” of the IRGC, while the apparent target was the US consulate in the city.

It stressed that the Iranian armed forces are a “red line” and “no one will be allowed to threaten or attack them”.

"Any repetition of attacks by Israel will be met with a harsh, decisive and destructive response," the statement added, noting the IRGC had vowed it would not “leave Israel’s crimes and evils unanswered”.

On Monday, the IRGC had vowed to avenge the death of two of its officers in an Israeli air strike near the Syrian capital Damascus.

The IRGC statement said Col. Ehsan Karbalaipur and Morteza Saeednejad “were martyred” on the outskirts of Damascus by an Israeli missile attack. “Without a doubt the Zionist regime will pay for this crime.”

Iran has entrenched itself in Syria after a decade of military involvement is support of Bashar al-Assad’s government and Israel often strikes Iranian military targets it deems a threat.

A dozen ballistic missiles struck Erbil at 1 am on Sunday, targeting the US consulate's new building and the neighboring residential area but caused only material damage and one civilian was injured, the Kurdish interior ministry said.