A few days ago, amidst heightened US-Irantensions, a military helicopter landed at the Erbil airport in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Although Western troops are rarely seen on the city’s streets, Erbil Air Base is heavily staffed with soldiers, and military helicopters fly overhead every day. Now,this airport could potentially become a target for Iran if the situation escalates. Since 2018, the Kurdistan region, including Erbil's airport, has come under attack by drones, rockets and ballistic missiles from Iran and its proxies.

In July last year, a suicide drone wasshot downabove the airport amidst attacks on oil fields in the region. On January 21, a drone alsotargetedan Iranian Kurdish opposition party, killing one Kurdish fighter.

"There are foreign forces here, including Americans, and the Kurdistan region traditionally has good relations with western countries and America," Ziryan Rojhelati, the director of Rudaw Research Center, told Middle East Eye. "In this last year, we witnessed how a militia group targeted the Khor Mor gas field in the Kurdistan region. So many people think that in a possible war between Iran and America, and Iran and Israel,some kind of tension would be spread to the Kurdistan region."

In recent weeks, the US haspositionedaround 100 aerial refuel tankers, carrier strike groups and fleets of fighters in the region. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has not ruled out strikes if nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran, set to resume on Thursday, fail.

Sources told Middle East Eye that, amid the high possibility of a US attack on Iran, several countries belonging to the US-led coalition in Iraqhave withdrawn or repositioned troops from Erbil Air Base, fearing possible Iranian retaliatory strikes.

"I think as you start seeing repositioning from Erbil, which is a likely counter-attack target and the ordered departure of nonessential personnel from Beirut, the chances of a US strike are going up. A lot hinges on the meeting in Geneva on Thursday," Michael Patrick Mulroy, the former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, said.

In a formal letter to the UN secretary-general on February 19, Iran’s UN ambassadorwarnedthat all US bases, facilities and assets in the region could be considered legitimate targets if Tehran is attacked.

Several sources confirmed thatroughly half of the coalition forces in Erbil have repositioned to other countries as a precautionary measure. While US and Hungarian troops have largely remained,Norwegian and Swedish forces, along with a number of Italian and French soldiers, have left.

OnlyNorwayandGermanyhave so far publicly confirmed that they have relocated forces from the Erbil base. "Norway has about 60 soldiers in the Middle East region, carrying out various missions. Some of them have been relocated due to the tensions in the region, in cooperation with our coalition partners," Norwegian military spokesperson Brynjar Stordal told MEE.

A German military source said thearmy reduced its forcesin response to the escalating regional conflict. Captain Raissa Broeren, a spokesperson for the Dutch defense ministry, on Monday said that they “are closely monitoring the situation in the region. Naturally, the safety of our personnel is the highest priority. If necessary, we will take security measures”.

Source: ZeroHedge News