Iraq's Pro-Iran Factions Making Show Of Force At Start Of July

After not participating in the Iran-Israel War pro-Tehran factions in Iraq have started targeting the Kurds in July. At the start of the month there was also a rare incident by the Islamic State.

 

On July 4 a Kurdish farmer was kidnapped in rural Kirkuk. This was likely for ransom which is still a major source of revenue for the Islamic State.

 

The last time the insurgency was active was during the 2^nd week of May. There have only been 12 incidents involving IS during the entire year and many of those were not attacks.

 

Pro-Iran groups have been active once again in July. Since the start of the month they carried out 13 attacks upon Kurdish targets in 6 provinces.

 

Starting on July 1 a drone hit a displaced camp in Dohuk, 3 rockets were fired at Kirkuk Airport, 12 drones were shot down at the Baiji Refinery in Salahaddin, and two more drones were shot down in Sulaymaniya province.

 

On July 3 a drone crashed in Kirfri in Diyala, another in Kirkuk and a third in Sulaymaniya governorates.

 

A drone was downed at Irbil Airport on July 4 and a second in Sulaymaniya on July 6.

 

Two Peshmerga bases were targeted with drones on July 11, one in Kirkuk and another in Sulaymaniya.

 

Finally, on July 14 two drones hit the Khurmala Dome oil field in Kirkuk and another was intercepted at Irbil Airport.

 

All of these are likely a response to the Iraqi Resistance failing to take part in the Iran-Israel War. Despite their rhetoric they did not carry out a single attack upon Israel during the conflict. Instead they went after the Iraqi Security Forces. Ain Al-Assad airbase in Anbar which houses American forces was the subject of a drone and missile strikes. Then the factions attempted to take out radars at three military bases to take down the country’s air defenses.

 

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Israel and the United States warned the Iraqi government it would be held responsible for any attacks upon Israel originating from Iraqi territory. The Prime Minister Mohammed Sudani told the groups that they should not take any action. Iran didn’t encourage its allies either not wanting to lose assets after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the assassinations of the Hezbollah leadership by Israel. To save face they are now carrying out operations to show that they are still a force in Iraq.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jul 1-7	Jul 8-14
Diyala	1 Pro-Iran	-
Dohuk	1 Pro-Iran	-
Irbil	-	1 Pro-Iran
Kirkuk	3/2 Pro-Iran	2 Pro-Iran
Salahaddin	1 Pro-Iran	-
Sulaymaniya	3 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran
Totals	10/9 Pro-Iran	4 Pro-Iran

 

Security In Iraq 2023-25

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
JAN 2023	29/4 Pro-Iran	12	15
FEB	20/3 Pro-Iran	12	18
MAR	9	18	8
APR	16	6	8
MAY	15	8	14
JUN	10	10	10
JUL	11/2 Pro-Iran	2	4
AUG	13/1 Pro-Iran	2	23
SEP	5	2	6
OCT	17/15 Pro-Iran	-	8
NOV	35/29 Pro-Iran	15	29 (8 Amer)
DEC	35/26 Pro-Iran	2K	16W
Jan 1-7	10/6 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	5	9
Jan 8-14	7/3 Pro-Iran	3	3
Jan 15-21	10/6 Pro-Iran	6	6
Jan 22-28	11/10 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jan 29-31	3 Pro-Ira	-	-
JAN 2024	42/28 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	14	20
Feb 1-7	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Feb 8-14	-	-	-
Feb 15-21	-	-	-
Feb 22-29	1	-	-
FEB	2/1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Mar 1-7	4/2 Pro-Iran	1	4
Mar 8-14	8/1 Pro-Iran	4	8
Mar 15-21	2	-	2
Mar 22-28	2 Pro-Iran	-	-
Mar 29-31	2/1Pro-iran	1	1
MAR	18/6 Pro-Iran	6	15
Apr 1-7	3/2 Pro-Iran	-	-
Apr 8-14	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Apr 15-21	3 Pro-Iran	-	-
Apr 22-28	1 Pro-Iran	4	-
Apr 29-30	1	2	-
APR	9/7 Pro-Iran	6	-
May 1-7	3 Pro-Iran	-	-
May 8-14	6/5 Pro-Iran	5	5
May 15-21	11/9 Pro-Iran	1	6
May 22-28	6/2 Pro-Iran	11	12
May 29-31	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
MAY	27/20 Pro-Iran	18	22
Jun 1-7	4 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jun 8-14	2 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jun 15-21	2/1 Pro-Iran	1	-
Jun 22-28	5 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jun 29-31	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
JUN	14/13 Pro-Iran	1	-
Jul 1-7	2 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jul 8-14	4	10	4
Jul 15-21	4 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jan 22-28	2 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jul 29-31	-	-	-
JUL	12/8 Pro-Iran	10	4
Aug 1-7	3/2Pro-Iran	-	10 (5 Amer)
Aug 8-14	2	2	-
Aug 15-21	2/1 Pro-Iran	-	2
Aug 22-28	2 Pro-Iran	-	-
Aug 29-31	4/1 Pro-Iran	4	8 (7 Amer)
AUG	13/6 Pro-Iran	6	20 (14 Amer)
Sep 1-7	3/1 Pro-Iran	5	4
Sep 8-14	3/1 Pro-Iran	4	5
Sep 15-21	5/2 Pro-Iran	-	7
Sep 22-28	18 Pro-Iran	-	-
Sep 29-30	8 Pro-Iran	-	-
SEP	37/30 Pro-Iran	9	16
Oct 1-7	21/18 Pro-Iran	6	14
Oct 8-14	17 Pro-Iran	-	-
Oct 15-21	9/8 Pro-Iran	1	-
Oct 22-28	17 Pro-Iran	-	2 US Soldiers
Oct 29-31	6 Pro-Iran	-	-
OCT	70/66 Pro-Iran	7	14 (2US Soldiers)
Nov 1-7	18 Pro-Iran	-	-
Nov 8-14	19 Pro-Iran	-	-
Nov 15-21	10/9 Pro-Iran	3	3
Nov 22-28	2 Pro-Iran	-	-
Nov 29-30	-	-	-
NOV	49/48 Pro-Iran	3	3
Dec 1-7	-	-	-
Dec 8-14	1	2	2
Dec 15-21	-	-	-
Dec 22-28	2	6	2
Dec 29-31	2	2	3
DEC	5	10	7
Jan 1-5	1	1	-
Jan 8-14	1	-	3
Jan 15-21	2	8	5
Jan 22-28	-	-	-
Jan 29-31	-	-	-
JAN 2025	4	9	8
Feb 1-7	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Feb 8-14	3	1	6
Feb 15-21	1	-	-
Feb 22-28	1	-	2
FEB	6/1 Pro-Iran	1	7
Mar 1-7	1	-	-
Mar 8-14	-	-	-
Mar 15-21	-	-	-
Mar 22-28	-	-	-
Mar 29-31	-	-	-
MAR	1	-	-
Apr 1-7	-	-	-
Apr 8-14	-	-	-
Apr 15-21	-	-	-
Apr 22-28	-	-	-
Apr 29-30	-	-	-
APR	-	-	-
May 1-7	1	-	1
May 8-14	1	-	-
May 15-21	-	-	-
May 22-28	-	-	-
May 29-31	-	-	-
MAY	2	-	1
Jun 1-7	-	-	-
Jun 8-14	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jun 15-21	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jun 22-28	4 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jun 29-30	-	-	-
JUN	6 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jul 1-7	10/9 Pro-Iran
Jul 8-14	4 Pro-Iran

 

SOURCES

 

Al Aalem, “Iraq’s air defense system: promising contracts facing fiery tests,” 6/25/25

 

Agence France Presse, “Drone attacks target Iraq airport and oil field: Kurd forces,” 7/14/25

 

Asharq Al-Awsat, “How Did Iraq Survive ‘Existential Threat More Dangerous than ISIS’?” 7/14/25

 

Bas News, “Explosive Drones Intercepted Across Kurdistan,” 7/4/25

- "Two Explosive Drones Shot Down Near Erbil," 6/22/25

- “Two Explosive-Laden Drones Downed Near Peshmerga Bases,” 7/11/25

 

Hussein, Mohammed, Tahir, Nawaz, “Drone attacks signal elevated risks for Kurdistan,” Iraq Oil Report, 7/3/25

 

Al Jazeera, “Visualizing 12 days of the Israel-Iran conflict,” 6/26/25

 

Al Mada, “The factions and ISIS share the night of drone and missile attacks on vital facilities,” 7/2/25

 

Al Masalah, “US forces shoot down 3 drones near Ain al-Asad base,” 6/13/25

 

Middle East Monitor, “Drone strikes target radar systems at 2 military bases in Iraq,” 6/24/25

 

Rudaw, "Kurdish farmer disappears in Kirkuk, ISIS suspected," 7/4/25

- “Who is behind recent rocket, drone attacks in Kurdistan region, disputed territories?” 7/2/25

 

Shafaq News, “Wreckage of three unidentified drones found in southern Iraq,” 6/24/25

 

Al Sumaria, "A missile fell near ain al-Sad base," 6/15/25