TEHRAN, 15 March 2022, (TON): Iran’s foreign ministry has said “the country will not tolerate security threats emanating from Iraqi soil a day after the elite Revolutionary Guards launched ballistic missiles on purported Israeli targets in the Kurdish capital, Erbil.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters “it is in no way acceptable that one of our neighbours, which has deep ties with us, becomes a focal point for threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

He claimed Israel has repeatedly created security problems for Iran through Iraqi soil, including by organising anti-establishment rallies and terrorist groups in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Khatibzadeh said “prior to missile attack, Iraq had been repeatedly warned both publicly and through diplomatic channels that it must not allow its borders to become “focal points for conspiracy, plots and sabotage against Iran.”

He said “the Islamic Republic of Iran expects Iraq’s central government that it will end this situation once and for all, and won’t allow its borders to be taken advantage of, especially considering all the claims of improving ties to new levels that exist between the two countries.”