Iran Says it Had Warned Iraq Many Times About Threats

Interior view of a house that was damaged during missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
Interior view of a house that was damaged during missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
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Iran Says it Had Warned Iraq Many Times About Threats

Interior view of a house that was damaged during missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
Interior view of a house that was damaged during missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

Tehran had warned Iraqi authorities many times that its territory should not be used by third parties to conduct attacks against Iran, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

He was speaking one day after Iran attacked Iraq's northern city of Erbil with a dozen ballistic missiles in an unprecedented assault on the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region that appeared to target the United States and its allies.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for the missile assault.

Iranian state media said the Revolutionary Guards Corps had launched the attack against Israeli "strategic centers" in Erbil, suggesting it was revenge for recent Israeli air strikes that killed Iranian military personnel in Syria.

The Iraqi Kurdish regional government said the attack only targeted civilian residential areas, not sites belonging to foreign countries, and called on the international community to carry out an investigation.

Sunday's attack came as talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal face the prospect of collapse after a last-minute Russian demand forced world powers to pause negotiations for an undetermined time despite having a largely completed text.



UN Watchdog Chief Says 'Very Significant Damage' Expected at Iran's Fordo Site after US Attack

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has taken seat for the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has taken seat for the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Watchdog Chief Says 'Very Significant Damage' Expected at Iran's Fordo Site after US Attack

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has taken seat for the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has taken seat for the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 16, 2025. (AFP)

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday that “very heavy damage” is expected at Iran’s underground facility at Fordo after a US airstrike there this weekend with sophisticated bunker-buster bombs.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made the statement in Vienna, said The Associated Press.

“Given the explosive payload utilized and the extreme vibration sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,” Gross said.

He added that “at this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordo.”