Iraqi Kurdish oil tycoon's home in ruins after Iran strike

Iranian missiles that struck northern Iraq earlier this week have laid to waste the sprawling mansion belonging to an Iraqi Kurdish oil tycoon near a U.S. consulate complex in the Iraqi city of Irbil

IRBIL, Iraq -- Once a lavish mansion, the sprawling home of an Iraqi Kurdish oil tycoon was laid to waste in a barrage of missiles that struck near a U.S. consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil earlier this week.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said it launched the attack last Sunday, firing off 12 cruise missiles at what it described as a “strategic center” of the Israeli spy agency Mossad — in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two of the Iranian paramilitary force's members the previous week.

Baz Karim Barzinji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR group, denies any links to Mossad. The missiles gutted his beautiful home but he says he is grateful his family was unharmed.

The consulate was undamaged and no injuries were reported in the attack. The United States said it did not believe it was the target. But the barrage marked a significant escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Hostility between the longtime foes has often played out in Iraq, whose government is allied with both countries.