An American citizen was among 13 people killed in Iraq in a missile attack carried out by Iran on Wednesday, the State Department confirmed on Thursday.
Another 58 people were wounded after Iran fired missiles and drones at militant targets in the neighboring Middle Eastern country’s Kurdistan region, Iraq’s state news agency said, citing its counterterrorism service.
More information about the American victim was not released due to “privacy considerations,” State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said during a news conference.
Iraqi Kurdish sources said the drone strikes targeted at least 10 Iranian Kurdish bases in Iraqi Kurdistan.
US Army Central Command said it shot down an Iranian drone while they were traveling in the area because it posed a threat to US officials in the region.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they would continue to stop what they described as terrorist sites in the region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Iran’s actions as an “unjustified violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Iraq also attacked Iran’s violence and considered it a violation of sovereignty.
Iran has faced ongoing demonstrations over the death of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died after being arrested by the country’s morality police for inappropriate clothing earlier this month.