White House vows to hold Iran ‘accountable’ for missile strike

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US would work with Iraq against Tehran

The White House condemned Iran’s missile strike on the US Consulate in Erbil, Iraq this week and vowed to work with the Iraqi government and others in the Middle East to hold Iran “accountable.”

In a statement on Sunday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US “condemns in the strongest terms” Iran’s attack on “a civilian residence in Erbil,” which he claimed took place without “any justification.”

“The United States stands with Prime Minister Kadhimi and the leaders of the Kurdistan Region, President Nechirvan Barzani, and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, in condemning this assault on the sovereignty of Iraq and its Kurdistan region,” Sullivan continued, before pledging to “support the Government of Iraq in holding Iran accountable.”

Sullivan also said the US government would support its “partners throughout the Middle East in confronting similar threats from Iran.”

The United States of America stands behind the full sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq

Iraqi officials reported that at least 12 missiles were launched by Iran at Erbil on Saturday, with several missiles striking the US Consulate. No one was killed during the incident.

READ MORE: Iran claims responsibility for missile attack – reports

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had targeted “the Zionists’ strategic center of plotting and evil.” Iran’s state-owned IRNA news agency said the incident was retaliation for “recent crimes by the fake Zionist regime” – seemingly in reference to a recent Israeli airstrike near Syria’s capital, Damascus, which reportedly killed two IRGC officers and two civilians.