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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 17 January 2024

Iran strikes targets in northern Iraq and Syria as regional tensions

escalate

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA An official with an Iranian-
and SALAR SALIM backed Iraqi militia said 10
Associated Press missiles fell in the area near
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iran fired the U.S. Consulate. He said
missiles late Monday at the missiles were launched
what it claimed were Is- by Iran’s Revolutionary
raeli “spy headquarters” Guards. Both officials spoke
near the U.S. Consulate in on condition of anonymity.
the northern Iraqi city of Ir- Peshraw Dizayi, a prominent
bil, and at targets linked to local businessman with a
the extremist group Islamic portfolio that included real
State in northern Syria. estate and security services
Four civilians were killed companies, was killed in
and six injured after mis- one of the Irbil strikes along
siles hit an upscale area with members of his fam-
near the consulate in Irbil, ily, according to a post on
the seat of Iraq’s semi-au- X, formerly known as Twit-
tonomous Kurdish region, ter, by Mashan al-Jabouri,
according to the security a former Iraqi member of
council of the Kurdish re- This image taken from video provided by Rudaw TV shows smoke rising from a building hit by a parliament. Al-Jabouri said
gional government. strike in Irbil, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. that one of the missiles had
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Associated Press fallen on Dizayi’s “palace,
said in a statement that it next to my house, which is
had hit a headquarters of the Iranian allegation re- Israel, and in an attempt to northern Iraq and northern under construction on the
Mossad, the Israeli intelli- garding the Mossad. force U.S. troops to leave Syria, and no U.S. facilities road to the Salah al-Din re-
gence agency, in the Kurd- The strikes come at a time the region. were struck or damaged in sort.”
ish region of Iraq. Another of heightened tensions in The United States strongly the attacks. Other regional political fig-
statement said it had fired the region and fears of a condemns “Iran’s reckless The official said initial indi- ures also confirmed Dizayi’s
a number of ballistic missiles wider spillover of the ongo- missile strikes” in Irbil, said cations were that the strikes death.
at “terrorist operations,” in- ing war in Gaza. State Department spokes- were “reckless and impre- In 2022, Iran claimed re-
cluding Islamic State tar- Since the outbreak of the man Matthew Miller. He cise.” sponsibility for a missile bar-
gets, in Syria and destroyed Israel-Hamas war on Oct. said the attacks “under- However, the full extent rage that struck in the same
them. 7, Iranian-backed militias in mine Iraq’s stability.” of the damage from the area near the sprawling
Israel did not immediately Iraq have launched near- A U.S. defense official who strikes could not be inde- U.S. Consulate complex in
acknowledge the attack daily drone attacks on bas- spoke on condition of ano- pendently assessed. Irbil, saying it was retaliation
in Irbil and its embassy in es housing U.S. forces in Iraq nymity to discuss details An Iraqi security official said for an Israeli strike in Syria
Washington did not return and Syria, which the groups that had not been made Irbil was targeted with “sev- that killed two members of
a request for comment on have said was in retaliation public said the U.S. tracked eral” ballistic missiles but its Revolutionary Guard.q
for Washington’s support of the missiles, which hit in did not give further details.

Iceland faces daunting period after lava from volcano destroys

homes in fishing town, president says

By MARCO DI MARCO “a daunting period of until at least Tuesday. defensive walls that have flow from the new eruption
Associated Press upheaval has begun on Grindavik, a town of 3,800 stopped much of the lava short of the town.q
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — the Reykjanes Peninsula” people about 50 kilome-
Iceland’s president said the where a long-dormant vol- ters (30 miles) southwest
country is battling “tremen- canic system has awak- of the capital, Reykjavik,
dous forces of nature” after ened. was previously evacuated
molten lava from a volca- A volcano on the peninsu- in November when the
no in the island’s southwest la erupted for the second Svartsengi volcanic system
consumed several houses time in less than a month awakened after almost 800
in the evacuated town of on Sunday, with orange years with a series of earth-
Grindavik. lava bursting through two quakes that opened large
Scientists said Monday that fissures near the fishing cracks in the earth be-
the eruption appeared to town of Grindavik. Authori- tween the town and Sýlin-
be dying down, but it was ties had ordered residents garfell, a small mountain to
too soon to declare the to leave hours earlier as the north.
danger over. a swarm of small earth- The volcano eventually
Iceland’s Meteorological quakes indicated an immi- erupted on Dec. 18, send-
Office said “it is difficult nent eruption. ing lava flowing away from
to estimate how long this The nearby Blue Lagoon Grindavik. Residents were
eruption will last.” geothermal spa one of allowed to return to their
President Gudni Th. Johan- Iceland’s biggest tourist at- homes on Dec. 22. An areal view of the lava field with the main active vent, the
town of Grindavik is in the background, Iceland, Monday, Jan.
nesson said in a televised tractions also shut and said Since then, emergency 15, 2024.
address late Sunday that that it would remain closed workers have been building