US urges Iraq to protect personnel, facilities amid pro-Iran militia threats

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi government must take “all possible measures” to protect American personnel and facilities across the country, the US Secretary of State emphasized during a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Monday. Marco Rubio also strongly condemned what he described as “terrorist attacks” by Iran and Iran-aligned armed groups operating in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

In a readout of the call provided to Rudaw, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Rubio “strongly condemned terrorist attacks by Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq, including in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”

He added that the two leaders “reiterated the importance of the Iraqi government taking all possible measures to safeguard U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities.”

The remarks come as the US had in late February launched Operation Epic Fury, conducted in joint cooperation with Israel, with bombardments largely targeting security and military installations as well as government institutions across the country.

On the first day of the campaign, an airstrike on Tehran killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939 - 2026), along with several family members and senior commanders.

For its part, Iran said on Friday that it had launched more than 2,000 drones and over 600 missiles targeting US and Israeli positions as part of its multi‑front response - dubbed Operation True Promise 4 - to the ongoing campaign.

The Iranian response has also included strikes by factions aligned with the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, including by shadowy armed groups in Iraq that have carried out numerous attacks against alleged US targets in the country, including in the Kurdistan Region.

Importantly, the US embassy in Baghdad had on Friday warned that Iran-aligned militia groups “may seek to target hotels frequented by foreigners” in the Kurdistan Region. It “strongly encouraged” US citizens to “depart as soon as they are safely able to do so, and reconsider lodging options if choosing not to depart.”

Shortly after, a coordinated drone attack targeted the Kurdish capital Erbil but was intercepted by US-led coalition forces, the Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTG) reported, as local officials told Rudaw the assault occurred near a high-end hotel and residential compound in the heart of the city.

Rubio on Monday accused Iran of taking the world hostage through its retaliatory strikes.

“I think we are all seeing right now the threat this clerical regime poses to the region and to the world. They are trying to hold the world hostage," the top US official said at an event at the State Department.

"They are attacking neighboring countries, their energy infrastructure, their civilian population," Rubio said, stressing that “the objective of this mission is to destroy their ability to continue to do that, and we are well on our way to achieving that."