The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it carried out coordinated strikes on US positions in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region with missiles and drones. The assault targeted facilities in Erbil province and destroyed a maintenance center along with warehouses holding technical equipment, according to state-run IRNA. Fuel tanks were set alight during the operation, the IRGC said in its statement carried by Iranian media. Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, stated that the offensive operations against the Americans will continue until they regret their crimes.
Iranian state media reported the Iraq strikes as part of multiple retaliatory actions launched on September 1 following US attacks on Iranian coastal areas. Those US strikes came after an incident that killed five people at a wedding party in southern Iran, BBC News reported on September 1. The IRGC also claimed ballistic missile hits on a US Marine Corps site in Jordan and drone strikes on radar installations in Bahrain that same day. Al Jazeera noted on September 1 that it could not independently verify any of the Iranian claims of damage or casualties.
Kuwait’s army activated air defenses in response to Iranian missiles and drones early Wednesday, according to statements cited by multiple regional outlets. Explosions were reported near several sites in Bahrain where US forces maintain a presence, Iranian state media added. The sequence of events unfolded after US Central Command began operations against IRGC targets at 12:00 ET on September 1, Centcom said in an update. Iranian media described explosions in provinces including Hormozgan and Sistan and Baluchestan following the American action.
US troop levels in Iraq have fallen sharply in recent years with the remaining contingent focused on advisory roles at Harir Air Base near Erbil. Stars and Stripes reported on July 15 that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi confirmed all remaining American forces would depart the country by September 30. The Pentagon presence once exceeded 170,000 troops at the height of the 2003-2011 occupation but now numbers fewer than 2,000 personnel according to inspector general assessments earlier in 2026. Iraqi officials have maintained that the advisory mission against Islamic State remnants does not require a large permanent footprint.
The IRGC described the Erbil operation as precise and effective in disrupting American logistics and surveillance capabilities in northern Iraq. A surveillance aerostat’s guidance system was among the equipment disabled in the strikes, Iranian outlets reported. Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, an IRGC spokesman, said in a related statement that a harsh punishment awaits the aggressors and America will regret its new attacks. The claims align with a pattern of similar announcements by Iran-aligned groups in Iraq that have asserted more than 70 drone and missile operations against US positions since March.
Regional mapping by Al Jazeera in mid-2025 identified Erbil as one of the last active US air operations hubs in Iraq supporting activities in neighboring Syria. The Council on Foreign Relations has tracked a network of at least eight permanent US military sites across the Middle East including locations in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain now reportedly under threat. Iranian officials have repeatedly warned neighboring states against hosting American forces amid the current tensions centered on the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping through the waterway has been severely disrupted since the conflict intensified, driving global oil prices higher.
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