Iran's Guards attack Israel's 'espionage centres' in Iraq

TEHRAN, Jan 16 (Reuters): Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they attacked the "espionage headquarters" of Israel in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late on Monday, while the elite force said they also struck in Syria against the Islamic State.

"Ballistic missiles were used to destroy espionage centers and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the region late tonight," Iran's Guards said in a statement, naming Israel's Mossad spy agency.

In addition to those strikes northeast of Kurdistan's capital Erbil in a residential area near the US consulate, the Guards said they launched attacks against the "perpetrators of terrorist operations" in Iran, including the Islamic State.

No US facilities were impacted by the missiles strikes, two US officials told Reuters.

The strikes come amid concerns about the escalation of a conflict that has spread through the Middle East since the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas began on Oct 7, with Iran's allies also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iran, which supports Hamas in its war with Israel, accuses the United States of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza.