Safeen Dizayee: Iraq Must Punish Groups Attacking Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Iraqi federal government must punish armed groups launching attacks against the Kurdistan Region from inside Iraq, not merely prevent further strikes, Kurdistan Regional Government foreign relations chief Safeen Dizayee said Monday, placing responsibility on Baghdad to enforce sovereignty and protect citizens.

Speaking at a press conference, Dizayee said the Kurdistan Region had repeatedly come under attack despite remaining outside the conflict and consistently calling for de-escalation and dialogue.

"Unfortunately, the Kurdistan Region has been targeted since this war began," said Dizayee, head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations.

He said approximately 1,000 drones and missiles had been directed toward the Kurdistan Region during the conflict, causing casualties and damage to strategically important economic infrastructure.

"Unfortunately, 1,000 drones and missiles have been directed at the Kurdistan Region," Dizayee said. "This has caused extensive harm, both through the killing and wounding of citizens and through attacks on the Kurdistan Region's economic infrastructure."

Dizayee emphasized that the Kurdistan Region was not a party to the war and had sought stability throughout the escalating regional confrontation. He said political and security disputes should be addressed through dialogue rather than attacks that expose civilians and infrastructure to further danger.

Baghdad urged to enforce sovereignty

The remarks come amid an increasingly consequential debate in Iraq over armed factions, the future of their weapons and Baghdad's ability to ensure that decisions involving military force remain exclusively under state control.

Dizayee said the international community, diplomatic missions and consulates had strongly condemned recent attacks and expressed hope that they would not be repeated.

But he argued that condemnation alone was insufficient where attacks originate from Iraqi territory.

The federal government, he said, has a legal responsibility to defend Iraq's sovereignty and protect its citizens, including those in the Kurdistan Region.

"Attacks launched against the Kurdistan Region from within Iraq itself must be prevented, and the necessary measures must be taken," Dizayee said.

He then went further, calling for accountability for those responsible.

"In particular, the armed groups carrying out attacks from within Iraq must be punished, not merely stopped."

His comments sharpen the question confronting Baghdad as it debates how to bring armed factions under state authority: whether the government can prevent groups from independently conducting attacks that carry consequences for Iraq as a whole.

For the Kurdistan Region, Dizayee's message was that neutrality in regional conflicts has not insulated it from their consequences, and that protecting the Region from attacks launched inside Iraq is ultimately a responsibility of the Iraqi state.