ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian security forces on Wednesday arrested numerous suspects for attempting to infiltrate the country's northwest from the Kurdistan Region, state media reported.
The members of the group "affiliated with separatist evildoers in the northwest of the country were identified and arrested," Iranian state media IRNA reported.
At least 10 people were detained in Iran's West Azerbaijan province, with security forces stating that they had "multiple missions of destruction, explosions, and attack on vital and economic centers and facilities of the country,” as cited by state media.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), a major Iranian Kurdish opposition group, told Rudaw on Wednesday that none of its fighters were among those arrested in the operation.
Komala, a leftist Iranian Kurdish party, confirmed on July 25 that those arrested were “a team of Komala Peshmergas.”
The party added that they will release more information in the coming days.
Komala is a Kurdish armed opposition party based in the Kurdistan Region and fighting for the rights of Kurds in Iran. The party is divided into at least two branches.
Iran renewed its warnings to the Kurdistan Region and called on relevant authorities to "take appropriate action" and expel the groups from the area, likely referring to Kurdish opposition groups, saying they disrupt security and peace in the region.
In early May, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bombed a bordering mountainous area in the Kurdistan Region, with Tasnim news agency reporting that bases of opposition groups in Erbil province were struck, likely referring to Kurdish opposition groups.
Five days prior to the bombardment, the IRGC arrested five people in Baneh province, describing them as "terrorist armed teams" seeking to infiltrate and conduct sabotage activities.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has cordial relations with Tehran, has called on armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups not to use its territory as a launchpad for attacks against neighboring countries.
Iran frequently carries out cross-border air and ground operations claiming to be targeting Kurdish groups along its border with the Kurdistan Region, where such opposition groups maintain a presence and describes the Kurdish groups along the border as "terrorists."
Updated on July 25 with Komala's statement, 10:45 am
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