Six Iranian ballistic missiles struck a Kurdish Peshmerga headquarters near Soran in Erbil province early Tuesday, killing six fighters and wounding 30 [1]. Iran's foreign ministry said the strike was "a mistake" and expressed "regret for unintended damage to Iraqi territory."

The Peshmerga Ministry rejected the explanation. The strike hit the 7th Division headquarters — a fixed, well-known military installation, not a battlefield position easily confused with an Iranian target [1]. Kurdish officials pointed to a pattern: since March 7, the IRGC and its affiliated militias have carried out 111 documented drone attacks and bombardments against the Kurdistan Region of Iraq [2].

The incident strains an already fraying Iraq-Iran relationship. Baghdad summoned the Iranian ambassador on Tuesday and demanded a formal investigation. Iraq's Foreign Ministry issued an unusually blunt statement calling the strike "a violation of Iraqi sovereignty that cannot be explained away as an error" [1].

For the Peshmerga — who are not party to the U.S.-Iran conflict — the strike represents a deepening of collateral risk. The Kurdistan Region hosts U.S. military personnel and has historically served as a base for operations against Iranian-backed militias, making it a target Iran can hit while claiming it aimed elsewhere.

The "mistake" framing satisfies no one in Erbil.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem