However, four separate knowledgeable sources all denied that there was an 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 there. 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 toward 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 arguing 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 and Sabereen news claim on April 13.
In a clarification from the Kurdistan Regional Government Spokesperson's office the autonomous region in northern Iraq "rejected assertions made by some regional media outlets regarding the presence of an Israeli intelligence agency within the Kurdistan Region."Dr. Jotiar Adil, the spokesperson, responded to the reports by saying that “a number of local media outlets have falsely reported that an Israeli intelligence agency base had been targeted in the Kurdistan Region, leading to the death and injury of some of its employees.... We hereby affirm, as we have several times in the past, that this is far from true and that there is no Israeli intelligence agency present in the Kurdistan Region. We categorically refute the claims of the presence of such a foreign entity within the Kurdistan Region. We are disappointed by these irresponsible claims and reject these baseless accusations which are intended to undermine and disrupt the Kurdistan Region."