Iraq has vowed to take Iran to the UN security council after the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed they had attacked an Israeli “espionage headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Iran said it was acting in defence of its sovereignty and as a counter-terrorism measure in response to an Islamic State suicide attack in Kerman this month that killed more than 80 people. The suicide attack was claimed by an Islamic State branch based in Afghanistan, but Iran has claimed Israel had in some way aided the deadly attack. The IRGC had vowed to strike back in response to the suicide bombing and in a statement on Monday said: “Ballistic missiles were used to destroy espionage centres and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the region late tonight”. Iran claimed the espionage centre close to a US military base was run by Israel’s Mossad spy agency. In addition to those strikes near Kurdistan’s capital, Erbil, the IRGC said they launched attacks in Syria against the “perpetrators of terrorist operations” in Iran, including the Islamic State. Explosions were heard in an area 25 miles (40km) north-east of Erbil in the Kurdistan region, three security sources said, in a neighbourhood near the US consulate as well as civilian residences. Nasser Kanaani, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry said the IRGC attack on Erbil was in line with Tehran’s defence of its sovereignty, security, and “combating terrorism” and a part of Iran’s punishment of “those who pose a threat” to its security However, the Iraqi president, Abdul Latif Rashid, described the strike involving 10 ballistic missiles as “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty”. The Iraqi foreign ministry condemned the attack which it described as “Iranian aggression”. “The government of the Republic of Iraq expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation against Iran’s aggression on Erbil for striking civilian areas with ballistic missiles, resulting in civilian casualties,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The Iraqi government considers this act an aggression against Iraqi sovereignty and the security of the Iraqi people, as well as an insult to good neighbourliness and regional security,” it added. Iraq has decided to escalate its response to the international level, stating that it “will take all legal measures, including filing a complaint with the UN security council”. It also summoned the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad to demand an explanation and to protest. The Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP) leader, Masoud Barzani, described the IRGC’s reasons for attacking Erbil as a “baseless” excuse and called on Tehran to come and see the damage with their own eyes. He added: “Our patience is not limitless.” The US state department condemned the attacks near Erbil as “reckless” and said they “undermine Iraq’s stability”. “We support the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people,” state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. No US facilities were affected by the missiles strikes, two US officials told the Reuters news agency. France accused Iran of “blatant, unacceptable and worrying violations of Iraq’s sovereignty and an attack on its stability and security, as well as that of Kurdistan within it”. Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hayman said he would not speculate when asked at a press briefing about Iran’s assertion that it struck a Mossad site. “What I will say is Iran continues to use its proxies to attack Israel on multiple fronts,” he said. “We condemn Iran’s activities and we call on the international community to stand up in defiance of Iran and call for peace in the region.” At least four civilians were killed and six injured in the strikes on Erbil, the Kurdistan government’s security council said in a statement, describing the attack as a “crime”. A multimillionaire Kurdish businessman, Peshraw Dizayee, and several members of his family were among the dead, killed when at least one rocket crashed into their home, Iraqi security and medical sources said. Dizayee, who was close to the region’s ruling elite, owned businesses that led major real estate projects in Kurdistan. Additionally, one rocket had fallen on the house of a senior Kurdish intelligence official and another on a Kurdish intelligence centre, the security sources said. Iran – which has many supporters inside the Iraqi government – has previously carried out strikes in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, saying the area is used as a staging ground for Iranian separatist groups as well as agents of its foe Israel. Those who were killed in the Kerman suicide attack were attending a memorial on the fourth anniversary of the US assassination of the IRGC commander Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad.