ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Erbil has asked the United States to provide the Kurdistan Region with a defence system after recent drone attacks targeted oil fields including some operated by American companies, a government official said on Friday.
Safeen Dizayee, head of the Department of Foreign Relations in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), held a series of meetings with US officials and policymakers earlier this week during a trip to Washington. He said his discussions included providing a defence system for the Kurdistan Region to protect it from drone attacks blamed on Iraq’s pro-Iran armed groups.
“They [the attacks] are concerning, given that we are trying to create self-reliance in the fields of oil and gas in Iraq. These attempts are aimed at preventing the development of the fields. We have discussed this [with the Americans] and they are concerned. We have also discussed the establishment of a defence system, not just to protect the interests of the American and foreign companies but those of Kurdistan and Iraq too,” Dizayee told Rudaw.
Since early July, nearly 20 drone attacks have hit the Kurdistan Region, most targeting oil fields and causing significant financial losses. No group has claimed responsibility and there have been no new attacks since Erbil and Baghdad reached a new agreement on finances and oil exports last week.
The KRG has directly accused Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which includes pro-Iran groups, of being behind the drone attacks. Baghdad has denied the charge.
The drones were seen by many as a pressure tactic by pro-Iran groups to make Erbil compromise with the federal government during negotiations over the resumption of the KRG’s oil exports.
The attacks have been condemned locally and internationally, including by the US, UK and UN. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani earlier this week and “stressed the importance of the Iraqi government holding the perpetrators accountable and preventing future attacks,” read a statement from State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Wednesday.
The Iraqi government launched an investigation into the strikes but has yet to announce the results. The federal parliament failed to discuss the matter on Monday after Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the session for unknown reasons.
Iraq is largely dependent on energy imports from Iran, though the supply is irregular. Baghdad is also working to direct its own natural gas to power generation plants and end the damaging practice of flaring. Gas imports from Jordan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan are also being considered.
The United States in March rescinded a waiver allowing Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran as part of President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
KRG officials have repeatedly said that developing Kurdistan Region’s gas fields will benefit the whole country but Iraqi officials have come out against some of its ventures, including a recent deal with an American firm to develop the Miran Gas Field through their newly formed joint company, Miran Energy.
