Iran claims Isfahan drone strike carried out by foreign intelligence, aided by Kurdish groups

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities claimed on Wednesday that the parts of three drones that targeted a military facility in Isfahan earlier this week were smuggled into the country from the neighboring Kurdistan Region by a Kurdish dissident group and on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency.

“News reaching Nour news states that the parts of the micro aerial vehicles that were used in a sabotage action a few days ago against a facility of the ministry of defense in Isfahan alongside the explosives, entered Iran from the Kurdistan Region in Iraq,” the outlet affiliated with the secretary of Supreme National Security Council said, claiming that the operation was executed with the participation and guidance of armed Kurdish opposition groups. 

Three small drones struck the Isfahan military facility in the early hours of Sunday morning, an attack which Iran described as “unsuccessful” and caused minor damages.

“These groups after receiving the parts of the micro drones and the explosives at the request of a foreign security service took them into Iran through a rugged path in northwest of the country and handed over to the contact of the service in one of the towns in the border area,” Nournews claimed.

The outlet, which is affiliated with the head of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, did not specify which foreign intelligence service was behind the operation but Iran often accuses Israel’s spy agency, Mossad,  of orchestrating these attacks.

Shamkhani was in the news recently after one of his close associates was executed by Tehran for allegedly spying for Mossad. Rumors swiftly emerged that Shamkhani had been removed from his post but were denied by Nour news. 

In December, Iran executed four individuals on charges of spying for Israel.

Last summer, Iran said it had detained four Kurds who it accused of spying for Israel and planning to attack a facility in Isfahan. The confessions of the four men were aired in December, raising fears that they may have been the ones executed in December. 

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused foreign nations, mainly Israel, the United States, and European countries of being behind the recent wave of massive countrywide protests in the country that have triggered a violent crackdown by security forces.

Iran has fired a barrage of missiles and suicide drones since September, targeting the bases of Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region and inflicting casualties, accusing them of igniting the nationwide anti-government protests and for working for Israel. 

In March last year, Iran attacked Erbil with twelve ballistic missiles, striking the residence of a well-known Kurdish businessman. The IRGC claimed responsibility for targeting "the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile."

Kurdish authorities vehemently rejected this accusation. A fact-finding committee set up by the Iraqi parliament to investigate the claims found no evidence of spying activities in the area attacked. 

Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war that has intensified following a series of high-profile assassinations blamed on Israel. Iranian fighters are also frequently targeted in suspected Israeli strikes in Damascus.

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that Israel was behind Sunday's attack on Isfahan, citing US officials familiar with the operation. There has been no official Israeli comment regarding the reports.