The sensitive nature of the claims paired with the lack of detail left many skeptical as to whether an attack had taken place.
Sources in northern Iraq have denied claims by Iranian Press TV that there was an attack on “Mossad agents.” Earlier in the evening outlets in Iraq and those linked to Iran, including Press TV, reported that “Israel’s Mossad spy agency has come under attack in Iraq.” The report was based on a claim in Sabereen news.
However, four separate knowledgeable sources all denied that there was any attack in northern Iraq. There is no accurate information about the location, one source said. None of the Kurdish news outlets in northern Iraq had reported the event or were knowledgeable about it as of Tuesday evening.
The sensitive nature of the claims paired with the lack of detail left many skeptical as to whether an attack had taken place. Pro-Iran militias in Iraq have fired rockets over the last two years at US forces in Iraq. These rockets have even targeted Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq. In addition the rocket attacks have killed contractors working with US-led coalition forces.
Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq often express hatred towards Israel as part of their pro-Iran worldview. Some have vowed to attack Israel in the past. In July 2019 a member of Iraq’s parliament alleged that the “US embassy in Baghdad serves as headquarters for Mossad.” This is part of the pro-Iranian narrative that argues that the US and Israel are the main adversaries in the region of Iran’s “resistance.”
On April 10 rumors in Iraq among one pro-Iran source alleged that Turkey’s intelligence agency was working with Israel against pro-Iranian groups in Sinjar in northern Iraq. There is no evidence of this. In late June and early July 2020 Hadi al-Amiri and other pro-Iranian voices accused Israel of overflights of Iraqi airspace. In September 2019 pro-Iranian voices in Iraq claimed there was an Israeli military presence in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region. The Kurdistan regional authorities denied the report.
These types of rumors, which sometimes make their way into major Iranian media tend to lack evidence. So far no one has confirmed any details related to the claims an Sabereen news claim on April 13.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post