Iran denies any link to rocket attack on Erbil airport

ANKARA

Iran Tuesday rejected reports linking Tehran to a rocket attack on the international airport in Erbil, the capital of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.

“Iran not only strongly rejects these rumors, but also flatly condemns suspicious attempts to attribute the attack to Iran,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

Khatibzadeh said Iran sees Iraq’s stability and security as a key issue for the region, and is opposed to any step that would disturb order and peace in the country.

Calling the attack “suspicious,” Khatibzadeh called on the Iraqi government to take the necessary steps to investigate it and arrest the perpetrators.

An Iraqi armed group called the Guardian of Blood Brigades said Tuesday that it had fired 24 rockets at the airport late Monday. A US contractor was killed and six others, including a US soldier, were injured in the attack.

According to Iraqi media, the group is a member of the Iranian-backed Iraqi Hezbollah group.

The group had previously claimed attacks against forces of the US-led coalition against the Daesh/ISIS terror group in Iraq.

Last September, another rocket attack by unknown militants targeted the Erbil airport, but without causing any casualties. At the time, the KRG accused the Hashd al-Shaabi militia of being behind the attack.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara