ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Wednesday held a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in which the pair discussed the situation in “the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and the latest developments of war,” with both agreeing on the importance of preserving peace and stability.

“They discussed the situation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as well as the broader regional developments and conflict. They agreed on the importance of preserving peace, stability, and security in the region,” read a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Fidan also discussed the developments with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani over the phone a day earlier, where they urged preserving the region’s stability as well.

The phone calls come as Kurdish officials pursure dialogue with various regional and international actors in a bid to protect the region amid the escalating conflict, which began on Friday with large-scale US and Israeli airstrikes that killed several top Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani on Wednesday held a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in which he "underscored the need to pursue a peaceful solution" to the ongoing regional conflict.

According to a PUK statement, Araghchi thanked Talabani "for his active role in preserving stability in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region," pledging to remain in ongoing contact.

In retaliation, Iran has targeted US embassies, military bases, hotels, oil facilities, and various US interests, with strikes carried out in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region.

Areas of the Kurdistan Region have been repeatedly struck during the conflict, with targets including the US Consulate in Erbil, Erbil International Airport, as well as several bases belonging to Iranian-Kurdish dissident groups in the Kurdistan Region.

Pro-Iran militias in Iraq have joined the fray on behalf of Iran by targeting areas in the Region, leading Prime Minister Barzani on Tuesday to say that that Erbil has become a target for “terrorist” groups amid the ongoing regional escalations, urging Baghdad to prevent such attacks as Erbil cannot remain silent for long.

Sulaimani's Ri'aya hill, also known as the UN hill, was subjected to a drone attack on Tuesday night.

An Iranian missile on Wednesday was intercepted as it neared Turkish airspace, with a Turkish official telling AFP that they believe Cyprus, which hosts a British military base, was the projectile's target but it "veered off course."