Shafaq News- Erbil

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Friday rejected Iranian claims that foreign intelligence services operate on its soil, following Tehran’s execution of two men accused of contacting Israel’s Mossad in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The KRG said it hosts no foreign intelligence facilities or training centers, warning that they risk escalating tensions and endangering civilians.

Iran executed Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi on April 20 after convicting them of collaborating with Mossad and plotting attacks on military sites. Judiciary-affiliated Mizan News claimed that the two had met Mossad operatives in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

In January 2024, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at Erbil, saying it targeted a Mossad-linked facility, but officials in Baghdad and Erbil said the strike hit a civilian home, killing at least four people and wounding several others, including Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and members of his family, and dismissed the accusations as baseless.