Iran eludes accountability after strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan

SULAIMANIYA/ERBIL - Weeks after missile and drone strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan galvanized a rare sense of unity and shared outrage between leaders in Iraq's federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), they have not taken action that appears likely to deter future attacks by Iran and Iran-backed groups in Iraq.

The lack of accountability highlights the extent to which the governments in Baghdad and Erbil are unable to regulate Iranian actions in Iraq at a time when pillars of both the prime minister's political coalition and the Iraqi security forces are closely aligned with Iran.

“Prime Minister Sudani was brought to power by those groups and their political wings," said one Interior Ministry official in Baghdad. "Of course they are too powerful for the Iraqi government to take any action against them."