Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were responsible for the missile strikes that hit the US consulate building, Kurdistan 24 news channel and other Israeli strategic centers “in Erbil, Iraq.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which are part of Iran’s defence, issued a statement on Sunday in which it took responsibility for the missile attack on the new building of the US consulate and a nearby residential area, according to Reuters news agency.

The attack took place Saturday night, when twelve missiles hit different targets in the Kurdish city of Erbil, northern Iraq. It said it had done so in response to Israel’s killing of two Iranian members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria earlier this week, according to Reuters.

The attack causes material damage. No one was killed and a civilian was injured, according to an Iraqi security official, Reuters wrote.

Targeted at Israel’s “strategic center”

According to Reuters, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack was aimed at what it called Israel’s “strategic center” in the capital of Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, Erbil.

According to AFP, Iran said its targets were bases belonging to the Israeli intelligence organization Mossad in the area.

“Any repetition of Israeli attacks will be met with a harsh, decisive and destructive response,” the statement said, according to Reuters.

Kurdish news channel is broken

The headquarters of the Kurdistan24 Kurdistan satellite channel, which is affiliated with the President Kurdistan regional government in IraqMasrour Barzani, was also injured in the attack.

Missile attacks on US military bases were initially reported, but a Kurdish spokesman for regional authorities later stated that the attacks only affected civilian residential areas. According to Reuters, he has asked the international community to investigate the incident.

The US Consulate that was hit was supposed to be a building under construction. The new US consulate in Erbil is slated to be completed by the end of 2022, according to it Kurdish Rudaw news agency.

VG Witness: Heard some big bangs

A contact in Erbil said on Sunday night he heard several large explosions in the city. Local news broadcasts reported that the US consulate had been attacked.

– We heard it from our house. Our cat got very scared and ran away. Even though we’ve had wars before, it makes me think about how things are in Ukraine now. It was very scary, said a 45-year-old doctor contacted by VG.