Iran bombs Kurds in Iraq to ‘protect national security’

Eslam Mohamed

Unsatisfied with only its blatant political interference in Iraq’s internal affairs, Iran has escalated the situation by bombing the Kurdistan Region, claiming to chase Kurdish separatists holed up in the region’s mountains. Tehran even mobilized Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) forces on its borders with the region and threatened a major ground attack.

Iraqi Kurds

Iranian television broadcast pictures of the preparations in the Marivan border region, including a number of helicopters, artillery and rocket launchers.

The commander of the IRGC infantry forces, Mohammad Pakpour, stated that they targeted the headquarters and locations of opposition forces inside Iraq and the Kurdistan Region as they have done in past years, adding that they will continue to do so. He warned residents of the border areas in Iraq of future attacks, asking them to stay away from the targeted parties until the end the week.

Bloody clashes

Bloody clashes erupted Tuesday, June 23, between the IRGC and the Kurdish opposition near the city of Urmia, the capital of Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province, which has become accustomed to witnessing violent clashes between the IRGC and Kurdish resistance forces in the Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, including the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, and the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJACK).

Military build-up

The confrontations flared up after Iran mobilized forces in the border villages of Marivan, where it established large military bases, expelled shepherds, launched aircraft, and shelled Kurdish areas inside Iraq with artillery.

The Iranian move comes at a time when Turkey continues its military operation against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, despite Baghdad summoning the ambassadors of Turkey and Iran to protest against both countries’ violations of Iraqi sovereignty.

Iraqi fears

Fears are growing among Iraqi circles of the expected Iranian ground invasion, especially as it coincides with a broad popular movement to prosecute Iranian militias for crimes committed in Iraq. Following the election of new Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, activists launched a widespread campaign on social media to demand the government to reveal the fate of those kidnapped by sectarian death squads and their places of detention. Kadhimi was the head of the intelligence service at a time when terrible crimes took place along sectarian lines in which Tehran’s military arms were involved, including the IRGC-affiliated Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of mainly Shiite militias.

The Iranian regime accuses the Kurdish factions of calling for secession and terrorism, but the factions respond by accusing the regime of violating the rights of their ethnic people, adding that their goal is merely to defend their legitimate rights.