Sadr urges Iran's Revolutionary Guards not to strike Iraqi territory

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Shia National Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr called on Iran's Revolutionary Guards to stop using Iraqi territory as a target, responding to an Iranian drone strike on the office of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in Erbil. Al-Sadr said attacks on Iraq by enemy drones would be honorable, but strikes launched by Iranian drones against Iraqi land were regrettable, and he urged Iranian counterparts through the Revolutionary Guards to refrain from hitting Iraqi soil. The Kurdistan Region's Counter-Terrorism Directorate confirmed that Barzani's Erbil office was targeted by an Iranian drone. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein asked his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, to issue an official position on the strike. Hussein noted that previous attacks had been justified by Tehran as aimed at Iranian opposition groups based in the region, but said the latest strike had directly targeted the office of the regional prime minister. Al-Sadr also expressed hope that the region would be protected from war. No further details were immediately available on the aftermath of the strike or any possible response from Iranian authorities.