IMPORTANT: Drones From Iran Target Kurdish PM's Office as Baghdad Rushes Air Defenses and Tehran Plays Down Backchannel Report
Two explosive drones launched from Iran targeted the private office of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the residence of the Region's security agency chief in Erbil province's Pirmam district early Monday, Kurdish counterterrorism forces said, in a brazen escalation that caused no casualties but drew furious condemnation from Erbil.
The Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Security Council, said the two Hadid-110-type drones were "launched from the Iranian side of the border" toward the two sites, calling the attack "completely unacceptable" and warning that "those responsible for carrying them out bear full responsibility for the consequences."
Prime Minister Barzani condemned the "reckless and unacceptable attacks in the strongest terms," describing them on X as "a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to the security and stability of the Kurdistan Region," while vowing they "will not deter us from carrying out our duties and protecting our citizens." The strikes came days after Barzani told Al Jazeera that Erbil does not want to be drawn into the US-Iran war, calling attacks by Tehran and its Iraqi proxies "unjustified." According to Rudaw tracking, the Region has been attacked more than 1,000 times by Iran and Iraqi militia groups, leaving 32 people dead and 154 wounded.
The timing was striking: the drones hit a day after Axios reported that Washington had turned to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani earlier this year to serve as a diplomatic contact point with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Then-US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reportedly asked Barzani to open a channel with Ahmad Vahidi — then deputy IRGC commander, since promoted to lead the force — saying the request carried the backing of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. No meeting ultimately took place in Erbil, as Iranian officials feared Israel might target them en route.
Pressed on the report Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei pointedly did not rule out the backchannel, but dismissed the coverage as "part of media tactics and psychological operations aimed at creating divisions" within the Islamic Republic, insisting that decision-making in Tehran "is an institutional process." He flatly denied, however, that any secret US-Iran meeting in Erbil had occurred, calling it "completely fabricated."
Meanwhile, in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi chaired a meeting with the Air Defense Command on Sunday, ordering the accelerated delivery of advanced systems under contracts with foreign companies to protect Iraqi airspace and reinforce sovereignty. Spokesperson Sabah al-Numan told Rudaw that Zaidi had ordered a special fund to finance the sector and shortened a modernization plan originally scheduled for 2026–2031 to just three years, covering medium- and long-range radars, missile forces, and advanced command-and-control systems. The push follows late-July US and Saudi strikes on Popular Mobilization Forces positions that the PMF said killed at least 20 of its members, and comes ahead of a planned US coalition pullout that will remove key air defense assets.
The drone strike on Barzani's office is only the latest in a sustained Iranian campaign against the Kurds of Iraq. In recent weeks, Tehran has sharply escalated drone and missile attacks on Iranian Kurdish opposition parties exiled in the Kurdistan Region, hitting camps belonging to Komala, the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran near Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. Nine Komala members were killed in a July 17 strike, eight PAK fighters were wounded days later, and PAK accused Iran of using white phosphorus munitions in a July 19 attack that wounded nine of its Peshmerga. Komala officials say their bases alone have been targeted by more than 95 missiles and drones since the war began, and at least 14 drone strikes hit Kurdish opposition positions in a single late-July wave, some launched by Iran-backed militias from areas near Mosul. The barrage has forced energy firms such as Dana Gas to suspend operations, underscoring the widening toll on the Region's security and economy.
Map: Al Jazeera