Regional War Escalates with Strikes, Missile Interceptions, and Explosions Across the Middle East
Explosions reported in Tehran while attacks and interceptions occur across Iraq, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Iran said Thursday it had fired missiles at bases belonging to Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as the widening war between Iran, Israel, and the United States triggered attacks, interceptions, and evacuations across the Middle East.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that three missiles targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups “opposed to the revolution” in Iraqi Kurdistan. The announcement came after Iranian state media reported multiple explosions in Tehran and said the country had activated its air defense systems.
According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, several blasts were heard in the capital Tehran on Thursday after Tehran launched multiple rounds of missiles toward Israel earlier in the day.
The strikes on Kurdish opposition groups came amid a surge in cross-border attacks targeting Kurdish factions based in the Kurdistan Region. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards later said the bases of “anti-revolutionary groups” had been successfully hit with three missiles.
A strike attributed to Iran killed one fighter from the exiled Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the group told AFP. Late Wednesday night, a separate drone and missile attack targeted a camp housing families of members of the Komala party, another Iranian Kurdish opposition movement, though no casualties were reported, according to party official Mohammed Hakimi.
The Kurdistan Region hosts camps and rear bases used by several Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, which have long faced cross-border strikes by Iran. Tehran accuses these groups of cooperating with Western or Israeli interests.
Meanwhile, the broader regional conflict continued to spread. Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said Thursday that air defenses intercepted and destroyed three cruise missiles outside the city of Al-Kharj.
In Qatar, authorities began evacuating residents living near the US embassy in Doha as a precaution after Iranian strikes hit the Gulf state earlier in the week in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks. Qatar’s interior ministry said residents were temporarily relocated and urged citizens to remain indoors unless necessary.
AFP journalists in Doha reported hearing loud explosions on Tuesday when Iran launched attacks across the region. Qatar’s defense ministry said an Iranian ballistic missile struck the US military base at Al-Udeid, about 40 kilometers southwest of the capital. Authorities also said they had thwarted attempted attacks on Hamad International Airport.
Iraq has also been increasingly drawn into the conflict. Two fighters from the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group were killed on Wednesday in a strike near the group’s stronghold at the Jurf al-Sakhir base south of Baghdad.
Two sources from the group told AFP that the fighters were killed when their vehicle was hit by what one source described as a “Zionist-US strike.” Jurf al-Sakhir was the first Iraqi location targeted in strikes blamed on Israel and the United States since the war began.
According to the sources, at least 14 fighters—mostly from Kataeb Hezbollah—have been killed in similar attacks since the start of the conflict.
Iran-backed factions collectively known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have vowed not to remain neutral and have claimed dozens of drone attacks on US facilities.
On Wednesday, Iraqi air defenses shot down three drones near Baghdad International Airport, which hosts a US diplomatic facility and formerly housed US-led coalition troops.
The conflict has also triggered rising tensions in Baghdad, where pro-Iran protesters recently attempted to storm the fortified Green Zone, home to the US embassy and key government institutions. Security forces dispersed the demonstrators.
Amid the deteriorating security situation, the US embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday urged American citizens to leave Iraq immediately if it was safe to do so.
Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, where US forces are also stationed, has faced a series of drone attacks in recent days, most of which were intercepted by air defense systems.
Loud explosions were heard on Wednesday in Erbil, the regional capital and home to a major US consulate complex. An AFP journalist reported that the blast wave shattered windows in several houses, while debris from a drone or missile shot down by air defenses fell in a residential neighborhood.