Iran Condemns Deadly Attack on Northern Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign ministry condemned a Wednesday attack on the city of Zakho in northern Iraq that resulted in the deaths and injuries of a number of civilians.
The spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani, on Thursday expressed his sympathy with the families of the victims as well as the Iraqi government and nation, stressing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s firm support for the stability and security of Iraq.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the security of Iraq as its own security and will not hesitate to provide any assistance in this regard,” he added.
A day of national mourning was declared in Iraq on Thursday for the victims of the attack attributed to Turkey on a tourist resort in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi made the announcement, after the attack targeted the village of Parkhe in the Darkar sub-district of the region on Wednesday afternoon, leaving nine tourists, including children and women, dead and 23 others injured. Some reports said artillery rounds had been fired while others said an airstrike had been carried out.
According to Chiya Amin, head of the tourism directorate of Zakho City, the victims were part of a 200-strong group from the capital, Baghdad.
Al-Kadhimi ordered the formation of an investigative committee, headed by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and made up of several high-ranking security officials, in order to thoroughly look into the circumstances surrounding the incident. He also blamed it on Turkey.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry stressed that a diplomatic response at the highest level will be adopted in connection with the deadly artillery attack, and the case will be referred to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Iraq’s Council of Representatives also tasked the country’s Foreign Ministry to document all the alleged Turkish strikes in northern Iraq and violations of its sovereignty, in order to use it as a basis for filing an urgent complaint against Ankara at the UNSC.
Turkey has, however, rejected Iraq’s claim that it carried out the strike on a mountain resort in Zakho. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that Ankara was saddened to hear of the casualties in the attack, adding that it had taken maximum care to avoid civilian casualties or damaging historic cultural sites in its "counterterrorism" operations against militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
“Turkey is ready to take every step for the truth to come out,” the ministry said, adding that Turkish military operations were in line with international law.
