ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq's foreign ministry has approved requests from Bahrain, Oman, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan to open consulates in Erbil, with a final decision now pending before the Iraqi Council of Ministers, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official said on Thursday.

A source from the KRG's Department of Foreign Relations told The New Region that the Iraqi foreign ministry has “given its approval” for the requests, with the Iraqi Council of Ministers remaining to issue the final authorization.

Zirak Zebari, a member of the Iraqi parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, confirmed to The New Region that the four countries are Bahrain, Oman, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan.

According to the KRG, around 40 countries currently maintain consulates or diplomatic representations in the Kurdistan Region, while the KRG operates representative offices in 14 countries.

The opening of additional consulates is expected to make it easier for residents of the Kurdistan Region to obtain visas for travel, education, and medical treatment, reducing the need to travel to Baghdad or neighboring countries to access consular services.

The United States inaugurated its new consulate in Erbil in early December. The nearly $800 million fortified compound, the largest US consulate in the world, replaced Washington's previous diplomatic mission in the city.

Diplomatic missions across Iraq, particularly the US Embassy in Baghdad, came under repeated rocket and drone attacks by Iran and its allied Iraqi armed groups following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran in late February.

Despite the security threats, Iraq's interior ministry said in early April, before a ceasefire agreement was reached between Washington and Tehran, that diplomatic missions across the country continued to operate normally.