Middle East correspondent Battaglia said that, in her view, if it were up to al-Zaidi, Baghdad would already have decided to chart its future with the United States rather than with Iran.
During the strikes overnight on Saturday into the early hours of Sunday, explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, Iranian state-affiliated media reported.
The sirens follow the eighth night of US-Iran strikes over the weekend, triggered by the death of two US service members in Iran's strike on a US military base in Jordan on Friday.
Iran’s attacks on the Kurdistan Region come as the Iraqi prime minister has wrapped up his visit to the US.
Aoun, who served as the commander of Lebanon's US-backed army before being elected president last year, is the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit the White House.
IDF unit shares process of dismantling Hezbollah's 'crazy, Iranian' terror tunnels • Report: US warplanes strike in southern Iran • IRGC claims two vessels in Hormuz had 'accident' amid US strikes
"Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation," the State Department wrote on its website.
According to the International Maritime Organization, at least 17 sailors have been killed since the beginning of the war, with three killed and over a dozen wounded in the last week alone.
Later, Iranian state television cited the Iranian Army as saying that it had targeted two US military bases in Kuwait.
The ministry said specialized security units intercepted a suspicious vehicle near the Syrian-Iraqi border and discovered a cache of long-range missiles, guided anti-tank missiles, and drones.
United States Central Command announced that two service members were killed in action, one is missing in action, and four were injured Friday in Jordan in a post on X/Twitter.
