Iran launches missile strikes against targets in Syria and northern Iraq

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched a barrage of ballistic missiles against targets in Syria and northern Iraq, including what the elite force described as an Israeli intelligence centre run by Mossad, the spy agency.

The guards said the missile strikes on an “espionage centre” in the Iraqi city of Erbil were in retaliation for Israeli strikes that killed an Iranian commander in Syria, as well as members of Iran-backed militant groups in the region.

Iran’s attacks will heighten fears that the Middle East is sliding dangerously towards a broader regional conflagration as tensions have soared since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas more than three months ago.

The missiles reportedly struck near the US consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, but caused no damage to the diplomatic mission.

“No US facilities were impacted. We’re not tracking damage to infrastructure or injuries at this time,” a US official said.

Kurdish authorities said the guards fired ballistic missiles at several civilian areas in Erbil, killing four people and wounding six others.

“This is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Kurdistan region and Iraq, and the federal government and the international community must not remain silent regarding this crime,” the regional authorities said in a statement.

The guards also said they launched missile strikes in Syria targeting Isis, which they said were in response to this month’s suicide bombing in southern Iran that killed almost 100 people, according to Iranian state news agencies. Isis claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Israel-Hamas war has triggered intensifying hostilities across the region with Iran-backed Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant movement, trading daily cross-border fire with Israel; Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking merchant ships in…