Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched missile assaults on various "terrorist" targets in Syria and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on Tuesday, according to state media, news agency AFP reported. The assaults damaged "a spy headquarters" and a "gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups" in Arbil, Iraqi Kurdistan's capital, according to the official IRNA news agency, citing an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) statement. According to Iraq's Kurdistan security council, four individuals were killed and six others were injured in the incident.
According to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, numerous people were slain, including wealthy businessman Peshraw Dizayee.
The IRGC also used ballistic missiles to attack targets in Syria, including "gathering places of commanders and main elements related to recent terrorist operations, particularly the Islamic State group," according to its Sepah News agency.
It further stated that the strike on Syria was in retaliation to recent terrorist attacks in the southern cities of Kerman and Rask that killed Iranians.
Blasts were heard in Aleppo and its surroundings, where "at least four missiles fired from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea" landed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On January 3, crowds gathered around the mausoleum of famed IRGC general Qasem Soleimani in Kerman were attacked by suicide bombers, killing approximately 90 people. IS later claimed responsibility for the incident.
At least 11 Iranian police personnel were murdered in an attack on a police station in Rask in December. The jihadist organisation Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which was founded in 2012 and is designated as a "terrorist" organisation by Iran, claimed responsibility.
IRGC Attacks Israel's 'Spy Headquarters' In Iraq
The IRGC also claimed to have attacked a purported Israeli "spy headquarters" in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, according to Iran's IRNA news agency.
"In response to the recent atrocities of the Zionist regime, causing the killing of commanders of the Guards and the Axis of Resistance ... one of the main Mossad espionage headquarters in Iraq's Kurdistan region was destroyed with ballistic missiles," the statement issued by the Guards was quoted by Reuters in its report.
The strike, according to the Guards, was in reaction to previous attacks on Iran and the "axis of resistance" of Iran-aligned organisations, which have raised fears about the spread of violence from Israel's Gaza conflict.
During the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas, regional tensions have risen, attracting Iran-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.