Netherlands Summons Iranian Ambassador; Protests Over Death of Dutch Child in IRGC Attack on Erbil

On Friday, January 19, the Dutch Foreign Minister announced that the Iranian ambassador to the Netherlands was summoned due to the death of a Dutch child under one year old in an attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Erbil. Hanke Bruins Slot, the Dutch Foreign Minister, stated on social media platform X that in addition to seeking an explanation from her Iranian counterpart, she had also summoned the Iranian ambassador in Amsterdam. The Dutch Foreign Minister condemned the IRGC's attack on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, identifying the deceased child as a Dutch citizen under one year old. In her message, she wrote: "The death of a child under one year old is tragic. We express our deep condolences to the grieving family and the families of other victims of this attack... I strongly condemn the attack on Erbil." The airstrike on the evening of Monday, January 16, by the IRGC on the territory of the Kurdistan Region provoked severe protests from Iraq and Kurdistan officials, as well as from Arab and Western countries. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned Iran's "aggression" against Erbil, which resulted in civilian casualties in residential areas, in a statement released on Tuesday. The statement indicated that the Iraqi government would take all legal measures against these attacks, which violate Iraq's national sovereignty and the security of its people. Peshawa Hawrami, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan government, in an interview with Voice of America, called the Iranian claims regarding the presence of Mossad agents in the area "baseless accusations" and stated that ordinary people were the victims of the recent IRGC missile attack on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He noted that this attack resulted in the deaths of women, men, and children, including an eight-month-old child. The spokesperson emphasized that the Iranian government lacks the "courage" to openly attack Israeli bases and resorts to accusations against the Kurdistan Region to "free itself from the current situation." The Arab League and the Arab Parliament condemned the IRGC's missile attacks on Erbil in northern Iraq on Wednesday, January 18. According to the Arab League's website, a seven-point resolution from the meeting of Arab League member states' foreign ministers includes a "strong condemnation of the bombing of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of several innocent civilians and the destruction of several civilian facilities." This resolution deemed the IRGC's missile attack as an "open aggression against Iraq's sovereignty, the security of the Iraqi people, and a gross violation of the principles of good neighborliness and international laws, charters, and norms." Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, emphasized the United States' condemnation of the Iranian attack on Erbil during a meeting with Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, also stated: "We oppose Iran's unjustified missile attacks that undermine Iraq's stability and support the efforts of the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan government to meet the demands of their people." David Cameron also met with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on January 18 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and strongly condemned Iran's missile attacks on Erbil, stating that such attacks violate the sovereignty of other countries.