Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed that it launched the attack on Sunday. It fired 12 cruise missiles at the “strategic centre” of Israeli spy agency Mossad, in retaliation to an Israeli strike in Syria which had killed two members of the Iranian paramilitary force.
Baz Karim Barzinji is the CEO of KAR Group, an Iraqi Kurdish oil firm. He denies any connection to Mossad. Although his home was destroyed by the missiles, he said that he is thankful for the safety of his family.
The consulate was uninjured and the attack did not cause any injuries. The United States denied that it was the target. The barrage was a major escalation in tension between Iran and the U.S. The long-standing rivals have often clashed in Iraq, whose government is allies with both countries.
Barzinji pointed out a large crater that used to be his home office as he led The Associated Press through the ruins. He said that the attack occurred while the tycoon, his spouse, and their two teenage children were visiting a nearby farming farm.
The once luxurious sitting rooms where officials of the government rubbed shoulders and met with diplomats and other high-ranking figures are now littered with glass, concrete pieces and piles full of junk. The roof and windows are gone. Only the walls of the mansion are left, and floors are now covered in rubble.
He said, “This is my house, all our photos and belongings are here.” It was horrible.
Ban Karim’s daughter recounts how her family huddled together in the garden as thundering missiles flew overhead. She spoke in English and said that she did not know if the drones can see her, if they are drones, or anything about ballistics.
As the focus of the world is now on Russia’s war against Ukraine, observers speculate that the timing of this attack was important.
The sale of oil from Iraq’s northern semiautonomous Kurdish area maintains secret links between Israel and Iraq. Through a joint venture between Russia’s Rosneft and Barzinji’s KAR, the KAR group constructed and operates the pipeline that links Turkey to Ceyhan.
“It’s clear that this is nonsense. This is what the Iranians are talking. This cannot be an Israeli base,” Hiwa Olsman, an Iraqi Kurdish politician analyst, stated about Barzanji’s villa.
A senior Iraqi intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the attack. He also denied claims that the house was an Israeli spy centre, and said it was a place where diplomats frequently held social gatherings.
This attack was Iran’s first on Iraqi soil since the Jan 2020 missile strike on Ain al-Assad, an air base that houses U.S. forces. It was in retaliation to the U.S. drone strikes which killed Qassem Soleimani (a top Iranian general), outside Baghdad airport.
“This (from Iran) is a message to their base, their citizens. They had been humiliated for a while and needed to lift their morale,” Hamdi Malik, an associate fellow at the Washington Institute who specializes on Shiite militias, said.
Malik believes that Sunday’s attack was planned to minimize casualties and not cause any direct harm to U.S. interest. It also sent a message, despite the stalled talks between Iran, world powers, and Vienna, that next time could prove to be more deadly and more costly.
This attack served to remind Baghdad that talks are still ongoing on forming a government and that Moqtada al-Sadr won the 2021 election in Iraq. He is now threatening to expel Iran-backed parties and form an alliance with Sunnis and Kurds.
Iran’s message to Iraqi partners is that it doesn’t matter who wins the election …. Malik stated that Iraq is our backyard, and we can do whatever we want whenever we want.”