Iran claims missile barrage near U. S. consulate in Iraq
The HinduIran claimed responsibility on March 13 for a missile barrage that struck near a sprawling U. S. consulate complex in northern Iraq, saying it was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard earlier this week. An Iraqi official in Baghdad initially said several missiles had hit the U. S. consulate in Erbil, which is new and unoccupied, adding that it had been the intended target of the attack. The attack came several days after Iran said it would retaliate for an Israeli strike near Damascus, Syria, that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard. The U. S. presence in Iraq has long been a flash point for Tehran, but tensions spiked after a January 2020 U. S. drone strike near the Baghdad airport killed a top Iranian general.