ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in a clash with an anti-revolutionary group - a euphemism used for Kurdish armed opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq – in the west of the country, the Corps announced on Tuesday.
The media department of Hamza Sayyid al-Shuhada Command of the IRGC said the clash occurred on Tuesday morning between the guards and a “team of anti-revolutionary terrorists belonging to world arrogance [...] in the Chaldoran region of western Azerbaijan.”
Najaf Command Center is responsible for 372 kilometers of land border between Kermanshah province and Iraq and around 2,000 square-kilometers of the Hawraman region and Dalahu county.
Areas of responsibility of Hamza Sayyid al-Shuhada and Najaf IRGC Commands in the Kurdish areas in western Iran. Graphics: Maps4news, Sarkawt Moahmmed/ Rudaw.
Two members of the anti-revolutionary group were killed, with the remainder were wounded, the department said, while “two brave local fighters” belonging to the IRGC were also killed.
A large cache of weapons was seized from the opposition group, with guards pursuing remaining members of the group in the area, the Corps announced.
The number of clashes between the Kurdish groups and the IRGC appears to be on the increase. This is the fifth clash suspected to have taken place in the area in recent weeks, according to Kurdish sources.
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) announced on Sunday, June 30, that its Peshmerga fighters stationed in the border area near the city of Choman, Erbil province clashed with IRGC guards after they allegedly fired at kolbars (couriers) carrying goods; the IRGC retaliated by shelling the area later that day.
Chaldoran, close to the Iran-Iraq-Turkey border, was also the site of clashes between the IRGC and what was believed to be a Kurdish opposition group on June 24, though no claims of Kurdish responsibility were made. One opposition fighter was killed, two were wounded and a fourth was captured; two IRGC guards suffered minor injuries.
Iran often accuses Kurdish groups of being at the service of “world arrogance,” in reference to what it believes is US influence on armed opposition to the current Iranian regime.
In a continuation of months of increasing tension, Iran announced yesterday that it has surpassed the 300 kg cap on its low-level enriched uranium, in breach of a condition set by the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran has been upping the ante since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposed aggressive economic sanctions, resulting in a dramatic drop in Iranian oil exports.
Unlike the rest of Iran, overseen by the Iranian national army, Kurdish areas in the west of Iran fall under IRGC charge. The Guard enforces strict measures to prevent armed Kurdish groups from entering the country, including constructing a network of roads and building more outposts in the mountainous Kurdish regions.
