Military escalation across Iraq continues following the outbreak of the Israeli-US war on Iran, as the country is now facing a series of reciprocal attacks by multiple actors on its territory, along with mounting economic damage caused by disruptions to its oil exports.
“Iraq has become one of the countries directly affected by the ongoing conflict,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said, noting that the country was “being subjected to attacks from both sides of the conflict.”
Iraqi military and security bases, as well as positions belonging to factions affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have been targeted by Israeli and US airstrikes. At the same time, Iran and pro-Iranian factions have targeted American interests and military bases in the Kurdistan Region and other parts of the country.
Hussein made the remarks during a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which the two discussed rapidly evolving military developments in the region and their political and economic repercussions, according to a statement from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
Hussein ruled out an immediate ceasefire, saying the widening scope of the confrontation and the intensification of attacks have become daily features of the conflict.
He also warned that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing military operations “have disrupted maritime navigation in the region.”
“Iraq is facing increasing difficulties in exporting its oil,” he underlined, a situation shared by several countries in the region and one that could have serious consequences for global energy markets.
He cautioned that the war will lead to a crisis in the energy market and rising prices, which will negatively affect the economies of the region and the world.
New Attacks
Iran and allied factions targeted Erbil International Airport and the nearby Harir Air Base with dozens of rockets and drones on Wednesday. Groups calling themselves the “Islamic Resistance factions” announced that they had carried out more than 28 attacks against US and local targets inside Iraq.
Meanwhile, Camp Victoria, near Baghdad International Airport, was also targeted by rocket attacks launched by armed factions, though Iraqi security forces said they thwarted the strikes.
Kurdistan
On Wednesday, an Iranian Kurdish fighter was reportedly killed in a missile strike targeting a headquarters of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, according to a source within the party cited by AFP.
The autonomous Kurdistan Region hosts camps operated by Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.
A party spokesperson, Khalil Kani Sanani, accused “the Iranian regime” of launching three missiles at a camp housing the families of party members, killing one camp guard and wounding three others. The camp lies east of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.
On Tuesday, a camp housing Iranian Kurdish fighters and their families in Kurdistan was struck by a drone attack that left one person injured, according to Mohammad Nazif Qader, a member of the opposition Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).
Iran classifies these Kurdish parties as “terrorist organizations” and accuses them of serving “Western or Israeli interests.”
