Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has denied Iran's allegations that The Israeli Mossad is present in Erbil, stressing that Iran must refrain from attacks on the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
In a televised interview on Saturday, Hussein said Baghdad did not find any evidence that a site Iran bombarded in March was being used by Israel’s Mossad.
Calling on the Islamic Republic to provide evidence regarding Israeli presence in Erbil, he said, "If Iran has evidence, it must show it. Iran suggested sending an investigation committee but it never came.”
He also rejected Iran’s claim that it provided information to the Iraqi intelligence before the bombardment, saying that Baghdad did not receive any information related to the presence of Israeli elements in the area.
The Iraqi foreign minister urged Iran not to repeat such attacks, highlighting that “We find it strange that Iran chose the Kurdistan region to respond to Israel.”
In March, Iran fired missiles at Erbil. No one was killed but missiles did damage to some residential buildings. Iran claimed it used 12 ballistic missiles in that attack and targeted an Israeli intelligence center. At the time it was seen as a response to an Israeli airstrike in Syria that had killed two IRGC officers or to a suspected Israeli attack in February on a drone base at an airfield in western Iran.
Last week on Wednesday, a drone exploded in Erbil injuring three people and damaging several cars, according to a statement by Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service. The explosive drone detonated on Pirmam road in Erbil's outskirts.