Up to a dozen, missiles were launched from Iran early Sunday morning. Iran’s missile attack hit the unoccupied US consulate building in Erbil, Iraq. 

The attack took place in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. 

The new consulate building construction had just been completed. And the building was unoccupied at the time of the attack. 

 A nearby building is the headquarters of satellite television station Kurdistan24. The station went live and gave its own reports shortly after the attack.

US says no damage

All sources agree, no one was killed in the blasts.

An anonymous US State Department spokesperson told the AP that the strike was an “outrageous attack against Iraqi sovereignty and display of violence.”

The US official, who did not want to be identified, said no Americans were injured. He also claimed there was no damage to the new government consulate building. And that there was no indication the target was the consulate building.

The US did not know if ballistic missiles were used. 

Iraq describes Iran’s missile attack

Lawk Ghafari, the head of Kurdistan’s foreign media office, said none of the missiles had been a direct strike on the U.S. building but that residential areas around the sprawling compound had been hit.

Iraqi officials claim that ballistic missiles were launched. One of the Iraqi officials said the ballistic missiles were Iranian-made Fateh-110. Ballistic missiles allow for target tracking trajectory enabling the delivery of one or more warheads to a predetermined location.

Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, visited Kurdistan 24’s headquarters. And toured the damaged civilian areas after Iran’s missile strikes.

Iran admits to strike

"This was in Erbil last night," A video on Twitter has Seyed Mohammad Marandi, an advisor for the Iranian Committee for Nuclear Negotiations, commenting on the attack.

"This is just the beginning," he warned.

His comments came after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s took responsibility for the attack. The Tehran official alleged that the target site was an "Israeli base".

Iran claims that the attack is retaliation for the two Revolutionary Guards killed in Syria by Israelis last week. And says its missiles were pointed at an Israeli headquarters.

Iraqi government to investigate

Barzani Headquarters issued a statement saying a “fact-finding committee will be formed to investigate allegations of “Israeli headquarters present in the Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil.” Since Iran had used it as a pretext to the attack.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) represented by President Barzani and the head of the Sadrist movement, Moqtada al-Sadr, agreed to form the committee.

“Erbil will never be on its knees, except for moderation, independence, and sovereignty,” al-Sadr said in a statement condemning the attacks.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said that “the propaganda of the perpetrators of this attack is far from true,” referring to the allegations of Israeli sites in the Region.

Given Mohammad Marandi’s role in the negotiations, his comments indicate that the nuclear deal talks may be another reason for Iran’s missile attack.

It seems far from coincidental that the attack was launched 24-hours after negotiations in Vienna, Austria broke down. The Biden administration has been begging to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. And has had Putin negotiating with Iran on our behalf.