ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A senior Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander on Tuesday threatened to attack bases of Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region if they continue to pose a threat to Iran.
Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the top ground force commander announced the commencement of a drill in the Kurdistan province, from the border area near Penjwen to the Chehelcheshma peaks where Kurdish fighters killed a senior IRGC commander last month.
“This year, any move by the terrorists will be responded to decisively. The officials of the region in northern Iraq and the officials of the brotherly and friendly state of Iraq must have more control over their borders and must act against any terrorist groups that use these areas,” he said.
The comments come just days after the IRGC launched airstrikes against the Haji Omaran area of the Kurdistan Region, which borders Iran.
Towns and villages in the Kurdistan Region on the border with Turkey and Iran are often subject to airstrikes targeting suspected locations of Kurdish groups.
The IRGC launched two days of airstrikes in the Kurdistan Region last week, just days after Ankara launched attacks against various locations in the Kurdistan Region and disputed territories of northern Iraq.
Pakpour said that the drill is an annual operation in the Kurdish areas, using ground and air forces to reassess the tactical abilities of the force and improve their coordination. However, the main aim is to “clear” the areas of groups they view as counter-revolutionary.
“The area of this drill connects to the region in northern Iraq and it is possible that some terrorists use this geographic location to establish a presence. One of the main aims of this drill is to clear these areas of terrorists,” Pakpour said.
“The counter revolutionaries and their backers have realized that we do not take any chances with anyone when it comes to the security of the country.”
Various Kurdish groups are present in the mountainous border area between Iran and the Kurdistan Region. Sporadic attacks are launched each year against various Iranian forces, including the IRGC.
The commander also referred to attacks on bases in the Kurdistan Region in 2018 and 2019.
“Bases of the terrorists in Koya Sanjaq and bases in the border areas with the Iraqi Region were subjected to missile, drone and artillery attacks from the IRGC ground forces,” Pakpour added.
Seventeen people were killed in an IRGC strike in Koya in 2018.
Pakpour advised the people of northern Iraq to distance themselves from the Kurdish groups and their bases, saying “any bases or headquarters of the terrorists are in our crosshairs.”
