Iraq President, Barham Salih, said the missile attack at Erbil in northern Iraq early on Sunday represented a "terror" act designed to sabotage the country's political process in forming a new government, the state news agency said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi said the attack was designed to "spread fear" in the city.
"Our security forces will investigate and stand firm against any threats towards our people," he said.
US officials, speaking to AFP, said the origin of the missiles was from Iran, echoing a similar ballistic missile attack aimed at US facilities in Iraq in January 2020.
Two men in the vicinity were injured in the attacks with twelve missiles, a farmer and a taxi driver, according to the governor of Erbil, Oumid Khouchnaw.
Several explosions were heard, but Erbil International Airport, where US military forces are stationed, was not believed to be the target, said Hiwa Afandi, Deputy Minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government.
As is consistent with previous attacks instigated by Iranian-backed militias, media channel Sabreen posted videos of the attack moments after its occurrence.
Lawk Ghafuri, head of Kurdistan's Foreign Media Relations, also said Erbil was attacked by 12 missiles at 1am. He also said the missiles were launched from outside Iraq.
The offices of a local media channel, K24, were severely damaged, although the building was unoccupied at the time.
"Tonight’s multiple attacks in Erbil was conducted by missiles, and none of the missiles hit the new US consulate which is still under construction in Erbil, but areas around the compound was hit by the missiles," Mr Ghafuri said.
Mr Afandi tweeted: “The missiles used this time were different, bigger, more accurate and I believe require proper launch systems.”
"The attacks has a suspicious timing that aims to obstruct the country's constitutional process by forming a capable government," Mr Salih said on Twitter.
"We must stand firmly against attempts to plunge the country into chaos, and we must unite to support our security forces, and combat outlaw terrorists," he said.
The German Embassy in Baghdad also spoke about against the attack.
"Germany strongly condemns the multiple missile attacks on Erbil last night. Perpetrators of this attack must be held accountable. Nothing justifies such a use of force and violence," it said on Twitter.
Erbil, capital of the Kurdish region, has been a repeated target of attacks.
Last year, drones laden with explosives struck close to the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, where a US consulate is under construction.
US interests in Iraq, including installations that house troops serving in an international coalition to fight ISIS, have come under repeated attack.
The use of drones was a relatively new tactic. In April, an explosives-laden drone hit the coalition’s Iraq headquarters in the military part of the airport at Erbil.
In May, a drone with explosives hit the Ain Al Asad airbase housing US troops in western Iraq. Three more struck near Baghdad International Airport, where American soldiers are based, on June 9.
US forces stationed at Erbil International Airport were attacked by two drones on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that led to the American invasion of Iraq.
US officials have blamed past attacks on Iran-aligned Shiite militias.
Erbil airport has also been the base for a coalition of anti-extremist forces.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
