Iran warns against opposition threats from Kurdistan Region
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran said Friday it refuses to tolerate any form of aggression from Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region on Iranian territory while warning that their presence in the Region poses security threats to the Islamic republic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that despite the guarantees provided by the Kurdistan Region, armed Kurdish opposition groups “that have taken shelter in that region are still posing security threats against Iran,” he told his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein during a phone call.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) showered the skies of the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Sulaimani provinces with ballistic missiles and suicide drones late last month, targeting the bases of exiled Kurdish opposition groups. At least 16 people, including one child, were killed and over 50 injured in the attacks, according to data collected by Rudaw.
The attacks have been vehemently condemned locally and internationally, with the United Nations warning on Tuesday that such aggressions on the Kurdistan Region by neighbors Iran and Turkey have become the “new normal.”
“These reckless acts must cease. No neighbor should treat Iraq as its backyard,” UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) chief Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said during a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Iraq.
Abdollahian referred to the relations between Iraq and Iran as “excellent” but reiterated that attacks from Kurdish opposition groups threaten Tehran’s national security and will not be tolerated.
In response to the Iranian bombardment, the Kurdish opposition groups called for the second general strike in Iran’s western Kurdish areas (Rojhelat) since the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in detention in the capital of Tehran. The IRGC blamed the Kurdish parties for the violent country-wide unrest in Iran and demonstrations demanding the fall of the Islamic republic are ongoing.
Many villagers in Erbil’s bordering areas have abandoned their houses in recent days with Iran continuing to bombard the bordering areas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that despite the guarantees provided by the Kurdistan Region, armed Kurdish opposition groups “that have taken shelter in that region are still posing security threats against Iran,” he told his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein during a phone call.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) showered the skies of the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Sulaimani provinces with ballistic missiles and suicide drones late last month, targeting the bases of exiled Kurdish opposition groups. At least 16 people, including one child, were killed and over 50 injured in the attacks, according to data collected by Rudaw.
The attacks have been vehemently condemned locally and internationally, with the United Nations warning on Tuesday that such aggressions on the Kurdistan Region by neighbors Iran and Turkey have become the “new normal.”
“These reckless acts must cease. No neighbor should treat Iraq as its backyard,” UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) chief Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said during a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Iraq.
Abdollahian referred to the relations between Iraq and Iran as “excellent” but reiterated that attacks from Kurdish opposition groups threaten Tehran’s national security and will not be tolerated.
In response to the Iranian bombardment, the Kurdish opposition groups called for the second general strike in Iran’s western Kurdish areas (Rojhelat) since the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in detention in the capital of Tehran. The IRGC blamed the Kurdish parties for the violent country-wide unrest in Iran and demonstrations demanding the fall of the Islamic republic are ongoing.
Many villagers in Erbil’s bordering areas have abandoned their houses in recent days with Iran continuing to bombard the bordering areas.