Iranian media spreads report of attack on alleged Mossad center in Iraq
Casualties were reported in the alleged attack, Iraqi sources told Iranian media
By TZVI JOFFREIraqi Shi'ite Muslim men from the Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah wave the party's flags as they walk along a street painted in the colours of the Israeli flag during a parade marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Baghdad(photo credit: THAIER AL-SUDANI/REUTERS)
A spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government denied reports of an alleged attack on a Mossad center in northern Iraq as "completely false" on Wednesday morning, stating that this isn't the first time claims have been made that an Israeli intelligence center is located in Kurdistan, according to Iraqi media."The purpose of publishing such reports is clearly a conspiracy against the region and its political process," added the spokesman.On Tuesday night, a number of semi-official and official Iranian media sources shared a report claiming that an intelligence and special operations center in northern Iraq allegedly belonging to the Mossad was attacked by an "unidentified group."The Iranian reports claimed that "Israeli forces" were injured or killed in the alleged attack and promised to release more details and footage "soon." As of Wednesday morning, no further details nor footage has been released.A report on the alleged incident shared by the semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency claimed that "Iraqi media and sources have repeatedly warned about the activities of Zionist elements" in the Iraqi Kurdistan area.The news came just hours after Israel began commemorating Remembrance Day, when the country remembers and honors fallen soldiers and victims of terror.The report was not confirmed by any official sources, but has been published by the semi-official Fars News Agency, Al-Alam News, which is owned by Iran's state media corporation, and Press TV, an English-language news network run by the Iranian government.The report seems to have originated from a news source called Sabreen based on Telegram. The report cited an anonymous "security source."The Iranian report comes as tensions rise after an alleged Israeli attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility and reports of a number of strikes by Iran and Israel on each other's maritime vessels in the Red Sea and near the Persian Gulf in recent weeks.An Israeli ship called the Hyperion and owned by an Israeli company was attacked near the shores of the Fujairah emirate in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, according to reports in Lebanon.
Iranian officials have warned in recent days that they would respond to an alleged Israeli attack that hit an electrical substation at an underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.Tensions were already high between the two nations after the alleged Israeli assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and reported attempts by Iran to carry out revenge attacks on Israeli embassies around the world.
