Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday launched around 73 ballistic missiles and dozens of suicide drones towards bases of Kurdish opposition parties in the Kurdistan Region, accusing them of encouraging protests in the country.
As the projectiles descended on various areas of the Region, they left at least 13 people killed and over 50 wounded in their destructive paths, according to the Kurdish health ministry. The IRGC has confirmed responsibility for the attacks, vowing to never cease striking "until all bases [of opposition] are dismantled."
"She is very scared. Whenever somebody gets close to her, she gets afraid and starts crying," the two-year-old’s mother Fatima Razazi told Rudaw's Ranja Jamal. The fear quickly became apparent when Jamal attempted to communicate with Haina, sparking the same reflex to cover her ears, depicting the exact pose as the one in the picture which went viral.
Iranian state media reported the use of Fath-360 missiles in the attack, the latest of the Islamic Republic's satellite-oriented missile system, as well as the engagement of Shahed-136 suicide drones in their military operation against Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups, codenamed "the Prophet of God," a reference to Prophet Mohammed.
Razazi described that during her journey to transport her children to safety, she injured her leg and was forced to hand over Haina to Amanj Aram, their neighbor and the man shown in the viral photo.
"I will never forget the time that the first missile hit and all the children were crying from fear, scared for our parents and scared for ourselves," Haina's older sister Saina said. "I don't even know how to describe it."
Saina added that a projectile struck and destroyed a classroom in her school, one which was fortunately empty but would have been full of children within five minutes.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) "strongly" condemned the attacks on the Region's sovereignty, saying "attacks on opposition groups through the Islamic Republic of Iran's missiles, under any pretext, are an incorrect stance which promotes a misleading interpretation of the course of events."
The US Consulate in Erbil issued a security alert on Thursday advising its nationals to refrain from traveling to Iraq, and the US Central Command prior to the consulate's statement said its forces had intercepted an Iranian drone launched towards Erbil without causing casualties.
"At approximately 2:10 PM local time, US forces brought down an Iranian Mojer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle heading in the direction of Erbil as it appeared as a threat to US CENTCOM forces in the area."
Iran for the past week used artillery to attack the Kurdistan Region in an attempt to target Kurdish opposition groups. The offenses were triggered by the mass protests which engulfed the country after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in police custody with the Iranian regime unable to suppress the demonstrations.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) all have forces inside Iranian cities. The latest attacks by Iran on the groups could escalate to armed conflict inside Iran, despite forces like the KDPI on several occasions claiming they will refrain from the use of force and let the movements protesting the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in Tehran remain civil.
With the threat of continued Iranian attacks on the Kurdistan Region looming, Razazi expressed concern about the threats posed to helpless, innocent children, especially those stuck at school as rockets and suicide drones rain down on their areas.
"My message is what fault does a child have," she asked. "If the children of the school came out five minutes later, they would have all been dead."
