Iraqi Kurdish leader rejects Iran's 'Israeli spy base' claim after deadly Erbil attack

Masrour Barzani to meet with Blinken, Macron and Iraq's Al Sudani after missile kills businessman and family members

The Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Region has rejected Tehran's claims that Iranian missiles struck an “Israeli spy base” in the city of Erbil on Monday night.

Masrour Barzani said that innocent civilians had died in the blast.

He called for a full investigation and for support from the international community after a series of massive explosions.

Mr Barzani said his government has no role in a conflict that is threatening to spread from the Israel-Gaza war to across the region.

Projectiles struck an upmarket neighbourhood in the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, where the US consulate is located.

The blasts killing businessman Peshraw Dizayee, his two children, aged 11 months and 18 months old, and two other people, according to local media reports.

Iran claimed it targeted an “Israeli spy base”, which Mr Barzani and Iraq's federal government in Baghdad rejected.

Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is being held this week, Mr Barzani said he was at a loss to know why Tehran had targeted Erbil.

“Perhaps you can ask them – because so far all we have seen are innocent civilians that have been targeted by the Iranians,” he said.

He is due to meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani later.

Speaking to The National, Mr Barzani said a probe was continuing to determine more about the strikes.

“The Iraqi government has already issued a statement to condemn the attack. There is an investigation team already in Erbil investigating,” he said.

Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Enas Refaei / The National

“They have indicated that they might take this to National Security [Council] and we will see what he results of the investigation will be.”

Asked about how Iran can be deterred from future attacks, he said: “What is surprising is that we are not part of this conflict.

“We don't know why Iran is retaliating against civilians of Kurdistan, especially in Erbil. We have no animosity towards any of our neighbours, especially Iran.

“There have been other attacks also against Kurdistan [in the past few years]. We don't know what the reasons are but all of the allegations that they have made are baseless. Kurdistan is a peaceful place and all we care about is how to serve our people and how to develop our region.

“We hope that the federal government in Iraq and the international community will take all of the measures necessary to stop the repetition of these attacks in the future.”