• Iraqi media report that the US consulate in the city of Erbil has activated air defenses after being targeted by drones.

US energy firm halts operations in Iraq’s Kurdish region

HKN Energy has suspended all operations in Iraq’s Kurdish region due to escalating tensions between the US and Iran, the Rudaw news network reported, citing a company official.

The decision came days after HKN signed a contract with Iraq’s Oil Ministry to develop the Hamrin oilfield in Salahaddin province, according to Rudaw.

The July 9 agreement aims to boost oil production to 140,000 barrels per day and gas production to 40 million cubic feet per day.

The suspension follows a series of drone strikes targeting Erbil and Sulaimaniyah provinces that killed nine members of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group. It also comes after UAE-based Dana Gas said on Thursday it had temporarily suspended operations at the Khor Mor gas field near Sulaimaniyah due to “credible threats”.

Iraq studying new pipeline to Turkiye and Syria to bypass Hormuz

Iraq’s Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair says the Iraqi government is conducting a study on the construction of an oil pipeline from Basra to Kirkuk and onward to the Turkish port of Ceyhan and Syria’s Baniyas.

Speaking to the Iraqi News Agency (INA) from Washington on Saturday, Khudair said the ministry “has a clear vision and strategy based on diversifying Iraqi oil export routes and not relying solely on the Strait of Hormuz”.

He said a memorandum of understanding had been signed with a consortium including US companies Chevron and TE Capital, alongside Qatar’s UCC.

“The ministry is currently conducting a study on how to construct a strategic pipeline extending from Basra to Kirkuk, and from there to the port of Ceyhan,” Khudair said, adding that the project also includes a study on extending a branch of the pipeline to Baniyas in Syria.

Baniyas is a coastal city in northwestern Syria, which hosts one of the country’s main oil refineries and an export terminal on the Mediterranean. It has historically been the terminus of a pipeline carrying Iraqi crude overland from Kirkuk, which is currently largely defunct due to decades of war and sanctions.

Iraq – OPEC’s second-largest producer – has for years relied heavily on the Strait of Hormuz to export crude.

Iraqi Kurdish politician condemns Iranian missile strikes

There has been several strikes on Iraq’s Kurdish region, including drone attacks that caused the US embassy in Erbil to activate air defenses as well as on Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the region.

They follow strikes that killed nine members of the Iranian Kurdish opposition group, Komala, on Friday.

According to Rudaw, a Kurdish news outlet, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has condemned Friday’s strikes, calling as “deliberate” and “a severe breach” of international norms.

“Our nation faced a grave and unacceptable violation of our security and sovereignty. A ballistic missile strike, launched from Iran, targeted our homeland and our heroic security forces,” Bafel Talabani said on Saturday.

“We stand with our brothers in Erbil at this grave time; an attack on one is an attack on all,” he said, adding that while the Kurdish region did not seek a wider conflict, that its restraint “should not be mistaken for a lack of resolve or ability”.

The PUK is one of the two dominant political parties in Iraq’s Kurdish Region, alongside its longtime rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Drone attack injures 8 Iranian-Kurdish rebels in Iraq

At least eight members of the exiled Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) have been wounded in an unmanned aerial vehicle attack in northwest Iraq.

Adib Khaldian, a member of PAK, told AFP at 2am (23:00 GMT, Saturday), “Iranian forces attacked with a drone” a camp belonging to the group in Erbil’s Darashakran area.

On Friday, drone and rocket attacks blamed on Iran killed nine members of the Komala Party, another Iranian-Kurdish opposition group.

Various Iranian-Kurdish groups, which share close ties with Iraqi Kurds, have long opposed Tehran from bases in northern Iraq and along the Iraq-Iran border.

Soon after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February, news reports suggested Trump was talking with Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups, and Washington was hoping to use them to spur a popular uprising.

Turkiye and Iraq want to resurrect diplomacy but face uphill battle

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, have held separate meetings with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Talks quickly pivoted to discussing regional developments and how to resurrect diplomacy and dialogue.

We understand they’re also discussing ways in which to coordinate diplomatic efforts, joint coordination to de-escalate the situation in the region and enhance security.

It is significant because Turkiye and Iraq are both countries that border Iran. They are both countries with strong ties to Iran, and no doubt they’ll be discussing trying to bring political pressure to bear on Tehran to halt its attacks and return to the negotiating table.

But the reality is that with Washington and Tehran, both with severe rhetoric with regards to any dialogue – pulling away from the idea of any talks at this time – any mediators that are trying to step into the fray right now will find it to be an uphill battle to get these two sides back to any kind of negotiating table, and away from what we are seeing as one escalation after another as these strikes carry on.

CENTCOM says US service member killed in Iraq

The US CENTCOM says a “US service member in northern Iraq was killed in action July 18 during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone”.

This comes after two US soldiers were killed and one missing by an Iranian attack on Jordan.

“After a thorough search, US military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today. An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.”

Iraqi PM to visit Tehran as diplomacy continues

There is optimism, but not much optimism, because despite diplomatic efforts by Qatar, Pakistan and other regional countries to de-escalate the situation, things remain highly uncertain.

Iraq’s PM is expected to visit Tehran on Thursday, according to Iraqi sources. The discussions will focus on bilateral relations.

But the timing is important. The Iraqi PM has recently been in Washington and is expected to travel to Turkiye after Iran, while Baghdad continues efforts to help end the confrontation. Iraq’s foreign minister says he will not carry a specific message, but the positions discussed with the American side are still likely to come up

Iraqi armed groups denies recent attacks, threatens US interests

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) says it has not carried out any military attacks against US bases in Iraq or elsewhere in the region in recent days.

In a statement, the Iran-aligned armed groups renewed its threat to become directly involved in the conflict if the US further expands its attacks on Iran.

It said that, in such a scenario, it would target US interests and military bases in Iraq and across the region “with full force”.

Missile hits Iranian Kurdish opposition HQ in Erbil

A missile has struck the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdish opposition group Komala in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region.

The group has blamed Iran for the attack, according to the Iraqi news agency Shafaq News.

Komala, formally known as the Kurdistan Toilers’ Party, is a left-wing Iranian Kurdish opposition group founded in 1969 that has long operated out of Iraq’s Kurdish region.

The group said its facilities have been targeted by more than 91 missiles and drones since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran.