Kurdistan Region closes schools amid Iran-Israel-US escalation, missiles over Erbil
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Saturday announced a public holiday for all schools and universities from Sunday through Wednesday amid renewed regional conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States, with missiles intercepted over Erbil.
The Kurdistan Region’s education and higher education ministries said the decision was taken “in the interest of the general welfare and to protect the safety” of teachers and students across “all educational centers.”
The announcement came after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran earlier Saturday, triggering Iranian retaliation with several Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, having been affected by the fallout.
Video footage showed Iranian missiles over Erbil being intercepted near the Erbil-Masif road, close to the new US consulate complex, which opened in December and is considered the largest American consulate in the world.
Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed said on Sunday that the region would continue its policy of avoiding involvement in regional conflicts, as it did during the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June 2025, when several projectiles were intercepted over Erbil by the US-led coalition, particularly near Erbil International Airport and the US Consulate.
Earlier on Saturday, several airstrikes hit a base belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Babil province on Saturday, killing two people and wounding three, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell.
Meanwhile, the pro-Iran Kataib Hezbollah, which is the primary user of the base in Babil, warned the KRG on Thursday against cooperating with what it described as “hostile foreign forces.”
“This will impose additional burdens upon it that may threaten its security and future,” the group said, while calling on its fighters to “prepare to wage a war of attrition that may be long-term, exceeding the estimates of the US administration.”
Iran-backed armed groups, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, have increasingly portrayed the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces as US proxies that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and facilitate a Western military presence.
The Peshmerga are an officially recognized regional security force and gained international recognition in 2014 for their frontline role against the Islamic State following the collapse of the Iraqi army.
The Kurdistan Region’s education and higher education ministries said the decision was taken “in the interest of the general welfare and to protect the safety” of teachers and students across “all educational centers.”
The announcement came after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran earlier Saturday, triggering Iranian retaliation with several Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, having been affected by the fallout.
Video footage showed Iranian missiles over Erbil being intercepted near the Erbil-Masif road, close to the new US consulate complex, which opened in December and is considered the largest American consulate in the world.
Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed said on Sunday that the region would continue its policy of avoiding involvement in regional conflicts, as it did during the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June 2025, when several projectiles were intercepted over Erbil by the US-led coalition, particularly near Erbil International Airport and the US Consulate.
Earlier on Saturday, several airstrikes hit a base belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Babil province on Saturday, killing two people and wounding three, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell.
Meanwhile, the pro-Iran Kataib Hezbollah, which is the primary user of the base in Babil, warned the KRG on Thursday against cooperating with what it described as “hostile foreign forces.”
“This will impose additional burdens upon it that may threaten its security and future,” the group said, while calling on its fighters to “prepare to wage a war of attrition that may be long-term, exceeding the estimates of the US administration.”
Iran-backed armed groups, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, have increasingly portrayed the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces as US proxies that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and facilitate a Western military presence.
The Peshmerga are an officially recognized regional security force and gained international recognition in 2014 for their frontline role against the Islamic State following the collapse of the Iraqi army.