Bombarded By Iranian Ballistic Missiles, Iraq Will Get Defense Assistance From The United States

JAKARTA - United States National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Sunday condemned Iran's ballistic missile attack on the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish region, Erbil, and said Washington was working to help Iraq gain missile defense capabilities to defend itself.

Sullivan told CBS' "Face the Nation" program no US citizens were injured in the attack, and no US facilities were hit. However, the United States will do whatever it takes to defend its people, interests, and allies.

"We are consulting with the Iraqi government and the government in Iraqi Kurdistan, in part to help them gain missile defense capabilities to be able to defend themselves in their cities", he said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for a dozen ballistic missiles that hit the capital of northern Iraq's Kurdish region, Erbil in the early hours of Sunday, Iranian state media reported.

The missiles targeted the US consulate among other sites, according to the Kurdish regional government.

Asked about the impact of deadlocked negotiations over the nuclear agreement with Iran, Sullivan said, "Negotiators have returned home in their capitals and we will have to see what happens in the days ahead about diplomacy around the nuclear deal."

Sullivan further explained that President Joe Biden remains firmly committed to stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"One thing I would say is, the only thing more dangerous than Iran armed with ballistic missiles and advanced military capabilities is Iran which has all of that and nuclear weapons", he said.

It is known that US troops stationed at the Erbil International Airport complex have come under attack previously from rocket and drone attacks. Washington has held Iran-aligned militia groups responsible, but no such attacks have occurred for several months.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department referred all questions about Sullivan's comments on missile defense capabilities to the State Department, which oversees security assistance agreements with other countries.

The State Department did not immediately comment on the new security assistance package for Iraq.

As previously reported, Iran struck the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on Sunday with a dozen ballistic missiles, in an unprecedented attack on the capital of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region.

The missiles fell in an area near the new US consulate building, according to Kurdish officials. US officials said no Americans were injured and US facilities were not hit either. Kurdish authorities said only one civilian was injured and no one was killed.

Iranian state media said Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked Israel's "strategic center" in Erbil, suggesting it was revenge for a recent Israeli airstrike that killed Iranian military personnel in Syria.