BAGHDAD, 15 March 2022, (TON): Iraq’s prime minister met with Kurdish officials and inspected the site of an Iranian missile attack near the American consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.

Mustafa Al-Kadhimi was received by Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish-controlled region.

The Iraqi premier also inspected damage caused by some 12 ballistic missiles that landed near the US consulate, which is new and unoccupied, and caused damage to a nearby local television channel.

Iran claimed responsibility for Sunday’s missile barrage, calling it retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard earlier last week.

No injuries were reported in the attack on the city of Irbil. But it marked a significant escalation between the US and Iran and upset Iraq’s leadership which called it a violation of international law and norms and summoned the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad in protest.

Hostility between the US and Iran has often played out in Iraq, whose government is allied with both countries.