KAR group CEO invites Iranian Ambassador to visit his house destroyed by missile attack

"Iran is our neighbor and has assisted Kurdistan's people during difficult times."
Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR (Photo: Kurdistan 24).
Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR (Photo: Kurdistan 24).

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR group, asked the Iranian Ambassador to Iraq and other ambassadors to visit his house, which was hit by six Iranian ballistic missiles on Sunday.

He asked all ambassadors in Iraq, including Iran's, to visit his house, which was destroyed in the attack. 

"Iran is our neighbor and has assisted Kurdistan's people during difficult times," he said. 

He added that the embassies need to see that something went wrong in the targeting of his house. 

"All the people in Erbil know me and know where my house is," he said. "They know that this is the place where my family lives. It's just a family house."

He added that if anyone visits the house, they would understand that it has the "archives, memories and objects belonging to a family of this city" and that the reports claiming it's not a family house are inaccurate.

The Iraqi and Kurdish leadership demanded the formation of an international investigation committee to visit the location and determine if it is a residential area. 

"Our neighbors and civilian people live here," Barzinji said. "There are no military buildings or centers in this location."

Read More: KRG Council of Ministers calls on international community to investigate 'baseless attacks'

In a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, Prime Minister Barzani emphasized the importance of combating the "propaganda" that has been intentionally spread in recent years "as a pretext to attack Erbil sporadically."

Read More: PM Barzani asks for 'further US support' in phone call with Secretary Blinken 

Earlier claiming responsibility for the attacks, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted a "strategic Zionist center" in the Kurdish capital, an allegation the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) immediately denied on Sunday. 

Read More: Fact-finding committee will be formed to investigate alleged 'Israeli' offices in Erbil

"Iran has repeated these attacks many times, and the silence of the international community in the face of these cowardly attacks will pave the way for their continuation," the KRG said in a statement.

Additional reporting by Ammar Najmaddin.