Two security officials, speaking to Agence France Presse (AFP) anonymously, reported that "a strike on a house in Baghdad's high killed four people early Tuesday," with intial reports suggesting that "two of those killed are Iranian advisors."
AFP cited another source from an Iran-backed armed faction as confirming that the targeted house had been "hosting Iranian advisors."
The strike notably coincided with a surge of attacks that targeted the US embassy headquarters in Baghdad.
Video footage submitted to Rudaw showed what appeared to be the embassy's C-RAM defense systems intercepting suspected drones.
A suspected missile reportedly struck Baghdad’s upscale Jadriya neighborhood - a critical nerve center for Iran-led 'Axis of Resistance' armed groups - near the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses key government institutions, diplomatic missions and UN offices, on Tuesday… pic.twitter.com/gogxWGBwMq
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) March 17, 2026
Hours earlier, the US diplomatic mission in Iraq had reiterated an urgent call on American citizens to “leave Iraq now” and avoid heading to the US embassy in Baghdad or the consulate in Erbil, citing an escalation in attacks by Iran-aligned armed groups and warning that US nationals face a “risk of kidnapping.”
The surge in attacks came shortly after Kata’ib Hezbollah said on Monday that its spokesperson and senior security official, Abu Ali al-Askari, had been killed. The announcement followed a strike that reportedly targeting one of the group’s positions in Baghdad on Saturday.