ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Ministry said Tuesday that Iran and its affiliated “terrorist” armed groups in Iraq should be held accountable for attacks on Peshmerga forces and civilians.
A Peshmerga base in Sulaimani province’s Raparin administration was targeted on Monday night by two drones, the ministry said. “On the same night, three explosive drones launched from Iran toward the Erbil border targeted the house of a Peshmerga member named Musa Anwar, and unfortunately, he and his wife were martyred.”
Attacks on the Kurdistan Region intensified from February 28, when Israel and the US began an air campaign against military targets across Iran. Tehran and Iraqi armed groups responded with drone and missile strikes targeting sites across the region, including the Kurdistan Region.
The Peshmerga ministry’s statement followed a deadly incident in March, when six Peshmerga fighters were killed and around 30 others wounded after Iranian tactical ballistic missiles struck a base near Khalifan in Erbil province. Iran said the strike was a mistake and pledged to investigate.
However, the new Iranian consul general in Sulaimani warned on Monday that Tehran’s armed forces would continue targeting what it considers enemy positions in the Kurdistan Region and the broader region. Iran maintains consulates in both Sulaimani and Erbil.
“These attacks are a continuation of the series of destructive assaults carried out against Peshmerga bases and residential areas in the Kurdistan Region,” the Peshmerga ministry added. “Once again, we hold the Islamic Republic of Iran and armed groups operating outside the law in Iraq responsible for these bombardments.”
US President Donald Trump has threatened to target Iranian civilian infrastructure if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz and agree to de-escalation. In a Tuesday post on Truth Social, he said, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” adding, “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
On Tuesday, the US carried out strikes on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island, targeting ammunition depots, radar systems, and bunkers, while avoiding oil infrastructure. Israel also struck railway bridges across Iran, signaling a potential expansion of the campaign.
Iran responded by warning it could target energy infrastructure across the region, threatening to disrupt oil and gas supplies. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said any further escalation by the US would trigger a response “beyond the region,” according to its affiliated Fars News Agency.
Iraqi pro-Iran groups have also expanded their activities. Jaysh al-Ghadab (Army of Rage), a newly formed group that emerged shortly before the war, said Tuesday it had carried out drone attacks targeting Israeli and US interests in “northern Iraq.”
Meanwhile, Kurdish leaders also condemned the killing of the Peshmerga member and his wife, who left behind two children.
“The Iraqi federal government must fulfill its duty and responsibility to prevent these crimes and terrorist attacks, and these assaults on the civilian and innocent people of the Kurdistan Region must not be repeated,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said.