None.

Air strikes target pro-Iran groups in Iraq

An air strike has hit a site allegedly used by a faction of the pro-Iran armed group Kataib Hezbollah in western Iraq’s al-Qaim.

While the structure of the facility was damaged, there were no reported casualties.

Across the country in Iraq’s northeast, another air strike hit a farm in Diyala province allegedly used by the Iran-aligned Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq armed group to store weapons.

Explosion in Iraq’s al-Qaim

Footage shows an explosion lighting up the sky in al-Qaim after the attack.

Local sources said the targeted site was the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a group of mostly Shia militias that include the Kataib Hezbollah group.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Drone targets US facility near Baghdad airport

A drone has targeted the logistical support camp of the US embassy that is located near the Baghdad international airport.

Drone shot down near Baghdad airport: Report

The AFP news agency, citing security sources, is reporting that a drone has been shot down near Baghdad’s international airport, where we earlier reported an attack targeting the logistical support camp of the US embassy.

One security source said the attack caused no casualties or damage.

It follows a similar foiled drone attack yesterday near the airport, according to Iraq’s security media cell.

Iran claims hundreds of drone attacks on US assets in Iraq, Kuwait 

The IRGC says it has fired 230 drones at several facilities hosting US troops in the Middle East, including a base in Iraq’s Erbil, and the Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

It said the attacks are among its “first powerful steps” in the war.

Drone attack targets building in Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah

A building in Sulaimaniyah, in the Iraqi Kurdish region, was hit in a drone attack last night.

Footage shared online and verified by Al Jazeera shows flames rising from a building amid reports of an explosion.

Local media reports suggest the building was a former UN headquarters in the city, adding that a security guard was injured in the attack.

The IRGC deploys troops to Iraq border

The IRGC announced yesterday that their ground forces are involved in the battle along the Iraq-Iran border, where there are Kurdish armed groups who have been fighting the Iranian army for decades.

This is important for two reasons.

It is mostly the IRGC’s air forces that have been involved in the war, in the firing of missiles and so on. But now the ground forces are trying to protect the border. One of the scenarios that the Iranian leadership is afraid of is that, eventually, once the country’s military capacity is reduced, particularly that of the Air Forces, then the Americans are going to destabilize the Iranian border and encourage the ethnic and religious minorities to start an internal rebellion. And if that happens, and if Iran’s Air Forces are weakened, it’s going to be extremely difficult to suppress any form of rebellion within Iran.

The Kurdish forces there are their number one threat. Then there are the Balochs, the Arabs, and then, possibly, the Azeris. This is a nightmare scenario for Iran.

Then, there are also reports of contacts between American officials and Kurdish leaders in the region. So that’s why, now, they are taking all the measures to prevent that kind of scenario, to prevent the borders being destabilized and to prevent the arming of and a rebellion by ethnic or religious minorities.

Iraq security situation update

Last night in Sulaimaniyah, in northern Iraq, a building that was formerly used by the UN was hit.

Officials in the Kurdish region say they are not sure whether it was hit by a drone or a missile, but they also say that Iranians suspect the building was home to US military individuals.

Meanwhile, the locations of Iranian opposition parties in the Kurdish region have also been hit several times by Iranian drones.

Iran accuses the US and the Israeli Mossad of training and equipping Iranian opposition groups and parties in northern Iraq.

Elsewhere, the Islamic Resistance, a pro-Iranian umbrella group that includes several armed groups inside Iraq, has claimed responsibility for the targeting of several US locations in Iraq.

The latest was the Victory base, which is next to Baghdad International Airport and hosts a US logistical support and diplomatic centre. The drone was shot down.

It comes after another drone sent by the Islamic Resistance was intercepted in front of the airport.

Security sources say they have also seized nine rockets and a launchpad in the Abu Ghraib area, in the vicinity of Baghdad.

Drone attacks Iranian Kurdish opposition group’s HQ in northern Iraq

A ⁠drone has struck an arms depot at the ⁠headquarters of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group in the ⁠town of Dekala in northern Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, wounding two fighters, security sources say.

Iran ‌has long accused the government there of sheltering armed groups involved in attacks against Iran’s government, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has repeatedly targeted their ⁠bases.

Pro-Iran armed group in Iraq claims attack on US target in Jordan

Saraya Awliya al-Dam, a pro-Iran armed group in Iraq, claims it has carried out an attack on a “vital American target inside Jordan”.

The group, which did not specify its exact target, shared footage on its Telegram channel appearing to show the launch of an airborne munition.

Sirens heard at US embassy in Baghdad

Sirens have been heard inside the US embassy in Baghdad.

‘Shelter in place’, US embassy in Baghdad tells Americans in Iraq

The US embassy in Baghdad has advised the country’s citizens to either leave Iraq urgently or to shelter in place.

More drones downed near Baghdad airport

Unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down near Baghdad’s international airport in Iraq, hours after a similar attack on the facility.

“Two drones were downed near Baghdad airport with no casualties or material damage reported,” an unnamed Iraqi official told AFP news agency. Another security source in Baghdad confirmed the incident.

The airport includes a military base that hosts a US diplomatic facility and previously housed US-led coalition troops.

Iran FM warns of ‘terrorist movements’ at border with Iraq

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned of “terrorist movements” at the border with Iraq, in a phone call with Bafel Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraq, the Iranian ministry said.

Araghchi emphasized the necessity to boost cooperation.

Iran’s FM speaks to Kurdish PUK leader who Trump called

Araghchi’s phone call with Bafel Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraq, on Wednesday came after US President Trump had spoken with Talabani.

In a statement on Tuesday, the PUK said Trump “offered an opportunity to better understand US objectives and to discuss joint support for building a strong partnership between the United States and Iraq”.

According to Axios and CNN, Trump’s call with Talabani is part of a broader effort by the US to mobilize Kurdish groups to lead an uprising against the Iranian government from the country’s west.

Growing signs that a Kurdish-Iranian offensive has begun

There’s no clear confirmation from any side, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken to Bafel Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) – who Trump also spoke with on Tuesday – some minutes earlier.

Araghchi warned of “terrorist movements” along the border with Iraq.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid says that a US official has told him that “Kurdish-Iranian militias started a ground offensive in north-west Iran”.

The issue has not been verified by anyone, but the signs of an offensive in Iran’s west are mounting.

Kurdish troops ‘on standby’ near Iranian border to aid US military: Report

US officials asked Iraqi Kurds to help them in a cross-border military operation in Iran, Kurdish officials have told The Associated Press news agency.

Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, told The AP that some Kurdish forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province, where they were on “standby”.

Nadiri said Kurdish opposition group leaders were contacted by US officials for a potential operation, but did not provide more details.

A second Kurdish official with Komala, another Kurdish Iranian group, told the outlet on condition of anonymity that its forces were ready to cross the border within a week and were “waiting for the grounds to be suitable”.

Iran’s Tasnim, Kurdish official deny reports of Kurdish ground invasion in Iran

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has denied reports from Fox News and other outlets that Kurdish fighters are entering Iran.

Citing three of its own reporters in the border provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and West Azerbaijan, Tasnim said that the reports were false and there was “no news” of fighters crossing Iran’s borders.

The media officer for the alliance of Iranian Kurdish parties also said that its forces were not launching ground operations.

Earlier, The Associated Press news agency reported that US officials asked Iraqi Kurds to help them in a cross-border military operation in Iran, and that troops were on “standby”.