While addressing Italian-language believers during his weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, Pope Francis expressed his “closeness and solidarity with the victims of the missile attack in the urban area of Erbil,” urging all parties to "avoid any step that could escalate tensions in the Middle East and other theaters of war," and reiterating that good neighborly relations are “built on dialogue and collaboration.”
In the late hours of Monday, Iran’s IRGC launched 10 ballistic missiles toward the Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil, under the pretext of targeting “spy headquarters” of anti-Iran groups, killing at least four and wounding 17 others.
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson of the Iranian foreign ministry on Tuesday said that the ballistic missile strike on Erbil was in line with Tehran's defense of its sovereignty, security, and the mission of "combating terrorism." The Iraqi foreign ministry summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to hand him a protest note in response to the attacks on the same day.
Kanaani reiterated the IRGC’s early Tuesday morning claim of having targeted “spy headquarters,” more specifically Israel’s Mossad-affiliated center, in the Kurdistan Region’s capital.
Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji headed a high-level security delegation to Erbil to assess the aftermath of the Iranian bombardment of the Kurdish capital. After inspecting the targeted location, he concluded that claims about the presence of Mossad base in Erbil are “baseless.”
During Wednesday’s general audience the Pope also stressed the importance of remembering the countries currently facing war. “Let's not forget Ukraine, let's not forget Palestine and Israel. Let's not forget the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, who suffer so much. Let us pray for the many victims of war: war always destroys, war does not sow love, it sows hatred. War is a true human defeat,” he said.
Pope Francis conducted a historic visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in March 2021, visiting several cities across the country, and holding mass for 10,000 people in Erbil. The Pope also met Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who rarely accepts visitors, in Najaf.