Iraq recalls its ambassador from Tehran following Iranian airstrikes

Iraq has recalled its ambassador from Tehran for consultations and summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Baghdad on Tuesday in protest over Iranian strikes on its territory, the Iraqi foreign ministry reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said they fired missiles late on Monday at what they claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” in the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan.

Kurdish officials in the capital, Erbil, reported that four civilians were killed and six others were wounded in the airstrikes near the United States consulate compound in the city.

Baghdad has described the attack as “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Republic of Iraq”.

It added that the strikes “strongly contradict the principles of good neighbourliness and international law, and threatens the security of the region”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they also fired missiles at targets in northern Syria linked to the extremist Islamic State group.

The strike came after Islamic State earlier this month claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Iran that targeted a ceremony commemorating the 2020 death of an Iranian general in a US drone strike.

Tehran said while it respected the territorial integrity of other countries, Monday’s airstrikes in Erbil and Syria were launched in defence of its own sovereignty and security.

The United States strongly condemned what it described as “reckless missile strikes”, saying they would “undermine Iraq’s stability”.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region with fears that the ongoing war in Gaza will spread across national borders.