Two drones targeted Masrour Barzani’s office and the home of the region’s intelligence chief in northern Iraq on Monday, striking deep inside Kurdistan’s political center. The KRG security agency said the attack was launched from Iranian territory, placing the incident squarely in a cross-border dispute that now runs through the region’s top security and political offices.
The office of Masrour Barzani, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s prime minister, was one of the two targets. Roger Macmillan said the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Service named the munition type as two Hadid-110 drones and said the launch origin was inside Iranian territory. That makes the strike more than a generic security incident: it reached two separate Kurdish targets in northern Iraq in a single operation.
Abbas Araghchi on false-flag ploys
Abbas Araghchi responded on X/Twitter on Monday with a warning aimed at Kurdish audiences on both sides of the border. He wrote, “Nothing justifies the reckless attack on PM Barzani’s office. Kurdish friends should be vigilant against false-flag ploys to sow discord between neighbors.” He added, “We protected our Kurdish friends against Saddam [Hussein] and Daesh (ISIS), and we’re thankful for the security they’ve provided on our border.”
That response placed the strike inside a broader pattern Araghchi has used before. Since the outbreak of the war, he has frequently commented on the risk of alleged false-flag attacks. In March, he warned his Turkish counterpart of repeated false-flag operations aimed at undermining regional ties, and only weeks ago he described a drone strike on Egypt’s Damietta Port as an Israeli false-flag operation.
Esmail Baghaei's suspicious claim
Esmail Baghaei gave the same basic message in more cautious language when he spoke to Iranian state media on Monday. “This development is highly suspicious and requires all sides to exercise vigilance,” he said. Baghaei also said he had information indicating that Iraqi intelligence was holding groups responsible for planning and carrying out the sinister plots.
That framing leaves two competing claims in the same news cycle. The KRG security agency said the drones came from Iranian territory. Araghchi and Baghaei pushed the focus toward suspicion, false-flag tactics, and unnamed groups, rather than direct Iranian responsibility.
Axios report and KRG risk
Roger Macmillan said the strike came within days of the confirmation of an Axios report about a Trump administration back channel. Axios published a report on Sunday claiming that the Trump administration used Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani as a back channel to speak with Islamic Revolutionary Guards Commander Ahmad Vahidi. A spokesperson later confirmed the Axios report to Iran International.
Macmillan said the attack appeared to punish the KRG and warn its leadership against making further admissions. A Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan report seen by The Jerusalem Post said that between February 28 and August 1, the IRGC and affiliated groups were responsible for 423 attacks on five Kurdish organizations in the territory, causing 20 casualties. For the KRG, Monday’s strike adds a new layer of risk: two drones, two targets, and an allegation that the launch came from across the border. Who launched the drones and how the operation was carried out from Iranian territory is the open question now sitting at the center of the case.
