On the night of January 16, elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces struck at the targets of the terrorists of the Islamic State group and the "spy centers" of the Israeli special service Mossad. The attacks were carried out in response to recent terrorist crimes by enemies of the Islamic Republic.

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in response to the recent crimes of terrorist groups and their unjust killing of our compatriots in Kerman and Rask, has identified and killed several key terrorist commanders and elements, especially from ISIS, in the occupied territories of Syria by firing several ballistic missiles," the statement said.

According to the Al Mayadeen TV channel, the strikes hit a mercenary camp in Idlib, where ISIS-Khorasan militants are based, who are trained and subsequently transported by the US military to the border between Iran and Afghanistan. The headquarters of the Islamic Party of Turkestan** were also hit by missiles.

Recall that on January 3, two explosions occurred near the cemetery in the Iranian city of Kerman. At the time, a ceremony was being held to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US missile strike. According to the latest data, 91 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack, which was claimed by representatives of the Islamic State terrorist group.

In another strike, IRGC units destroyed one of the headquarters of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad in Iraqi Kurdistan with ballistic missiles. According to Tehran, the hit facility was "a center for the development of espionage operations and the planning of terrorist operations in the region," including against Iran. Places of concentration of "anti-Iranian terrorist groups" were also hit.

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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the actions taken by the IRGC units were carried out "in order to powerfully protect the sovereignty and security of the country, fight terrorism, and were part of the fair punishment of violators of the country's security by the Islamic Republic."

According to a RIA Novosti source in the Iraqi security agencies, several explosions thundered in Erbil near the US consulate and the airport in northern Iraq (adjacent to it is the Harir military base, used by the forces of the international coalition led by the United States).

As reported by the American television company ABC, citing sources, three drones were shot down near the Erbil airport.

According to Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, no U.S. military personnel or facilities were hit by a "reckless and inaccurate series of strikes" by Iran.

"The United States supports Iraq's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity," she added.

Meanwhile, the Security Council of Iraqi Kurdistan reported that four civilians were killed in the missile strike, and six more people were injured. Among the dead is Peshrav Dizayi, a Kurdish businessman and owner of the Falcon Group.

The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, Masrour Barzani, called on the international community "not to remain silent about the injustice to which the people of Kurdistan are subjected."

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"Once again, Erbil was subjected to rocket fire by the Iranian IRGC. Unfortunately, this unprovoked attack resulted in the death and injury of civilians... I call on the federal government to take a strong stance against this violation of the sovereignty of Iraq, especially Kurdistan," the statement reads, the text of which is quoted by RIA Novosti.

The Iraqi authorities strongly condemned the Iranian aggression, which resulted in the bombing of residential buildings with ballistic missiles, which resulted in civilian casualties.

"The Government of the Republic of Iraq considers this behaviour to be aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq and the security of the Iraqi people. This is an insult to good neighborliness and a violation of the security of the region," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said.

Baghdad intends to take all legal measures, including filing a complaint with the UN Security Council.

In addition, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry recalled its ambassador Nasir Abdul Mohsen from Tehran for consultations.

* "Islamic State" (IS, ISIS) is an organization recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 29.12.2014.

** The Islamic Party of Turkestan (formerly the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) is an organization recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 14.02.2003.