With America distracted, Iran hits Iraq’s Kurds

ERBIL, THE capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, has long been the country’s safest haven—and its friendliest to the West. But just after midnight on March 13th Iran hammered the city with 12 cruise missiles. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s most punchy force, claimed responsibility. No one was reported to have been killed, but several buildings (pictured) were clobbered. Iraq’s government in Baghdad was shaken. The Kurds’ Western friends were shocked.Iran’s generals say the target was a “strategic centre” of Israel’s spy agency, Mossad. Iraq’s Kurds have long had discreet links to Israel. In his younger days, Masoud Barzani, the ruling Kurdish family’s patriarch, once guided Jews escaping from Saddam Hussein’s clutches through Kurdistan’s mountain passes. More worrying for Iran, Kurdistan’s high ridges nowadays offer Israel listening posts into Iran. The ayatollahs say the region is a launchpad for covert Israeli operations. Today’s Kurds sell a lot of their oil to Israel and recently hosted a gathering where Iraq was urged to follow the example of other Arab states by normalising ties to the Jewish one.