ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday condemned Iranian missile strikes in the Kurdistan Region that killed six Peshmerga fighters, calling them a "dangerous escalation" and "a violation of the principles of international law."

An Iranian ballistic missile attack on the Peshmerga's bases in the Soran administration early Tuesday killed six Peshmerga and injured 30 others, the Peshmerga ministry announced, with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday asserting that Tehran has contacted Erbil and informed the governemnt that the strike was "a mistake" and will be duly investigated.

In a statement, the UAE foreign ministry said that it "strongly condemned and denounced Iran's unprovoked terrorist missile attacks" and asserted Abu Dhabi's "full solidarity" with both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

"The Ministry expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the martyrs, as well as to the government and people of Iraq, and the Kurdistan Regional Government over this heinous attack, and wished a speedy recovery to all those injured," the statement concluded.

Relationships between the Kurdistan Region and the UAE, both of whom have been repeatedly targeted by Iran following the launching of a joint US-Israeli military offensive against the Islamic Republic in late February, have seen major improvements under the KRG’s ninth cabinet.

On Wednesday, the UAE announced that, since the beginning of the conflict, its forces "have engaged 357 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,815 UAVs" launched by Iran.

The Emirati consulate in Erbil has been targeted on multiple occasions since the outbreak of the war and its regional spillover, with one of the incidents leading to two diplomatic security personnel being wounded.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) denounced the strikes shortly afterward, calling the "terrorist" attack "a blatant violation of international law, and the sovereignty of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

The Emirati foreign ministry appointed Minister of State Saeed Mubarak Rashid al-Hajeri as its Envoy for Special Affairs to the Kurdistan Region in September.

In October, Prime Minister Barzani received an Emirati delegation in Erbil to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation and more than 30 Emiriati initiatives "designed to bring UAE expertise to the Kurdistan Region."

The projects include a centralized Performance Management System (PMS) for the KRG, which will reimagine the government’s ability to monitor its departments, and the Kurdistan Coders Program, aimed at upskilling the Kurdistan Region’s youth across all provinces in digital and coding skills.