Drone attacks on US-run oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan – blamed by local authorities on Iran-aligned militia – prompted a US pressure campaign that helped restart the Kirkuk–Ceyhan export pipeline, a move Washington views as curbing funding for Iran-backed groups, Reuters reported.
The July strikes – described by Reuters as retaliation for US action against Iranian nuclear sites weeks earlier – hit the Sarsang field operated by HKN Energy and another run by Dallas-based Hunt Oil, disrupting output across the region.
By the end of four days of attacks, nearly half of Kurdistan’s production was offline, Reuters said.
In the following weeks, US officials delivered what one administration source called “extremely intensive” messages to Baghdad, pressing for a restart of the pipeline to Türkiye’s Ceyhan port.
Washington has argued that the line’s closure diverted crude into southern routes and informal channels that enriched Iran-aligned networks.
A preliminary restart deal was reached in mid-July, and exports resumed late in September after a 30-month halt, helping normalize flows of Kurdish crude.
Iraqi officials have not named the group behind the strikes, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iraqi Kurdistan security sources said that initial investigations suggested that the drone came from areas under the control of Iran-backed militias.
