Tehran has long accused the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of harboring opposition groups it considers “terrorists” and allowing them to use the border areas as a launchpad for attacks against the Islamic republic. Iranian armed forces have carried out many attacks on the alleged positions of these groups, including using both ballistic missiles and drones. In March, Iran and Iraq signed a border protection deal.
Chief of Staff of Iran’s armed forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri on Tuesday said that Iran had suspended cross-border strikes after Baghdad agreed to a September 22 deadline to disarm the Kurdish opposition groups and secure the border regions.
“If the deadline passes and they remain armed or carry out any operation, our operations against those groups will definitely reoccur more severely,” Bagheri said. “Armed secessionist groups exist in northern Iraq, which causes insecurity at our borders.”
Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region - namely the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) - have been accused of fueling the nationwide protest movement in Iran last September and inciting unrest in the country. The groups, struggling for greater rights for Iran’s marginalised Kurdish population, have fought an on-and-off war with the Islamic Republic.
Referring to previous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile and drone strikes against these groups, Bagheri said the strikes were conducted “in order to protect and preserve the country’s security,” but that the attacks have been stopped to allow Baghdad to disarm the groups.
In late November, Iran targeted the bases of Kurdish dissident groups with a barrage of ballistic missiles and suicide drones, prompting the Iraqi government to boost its troop numbers on the border in an attempt to curb further violations of its sovereignty.
Two months prior, the IRGC fired around 73 ballistic missiles and launched dozens of suicide drones towards bases of the opposition parties. At least 16 people were killed and 58 injured in the bombardment.
In March, Iran’s intelligence ministry renewed threats against Baghdad and Erbil and warned that military attacks on the Region will continue unless the border areas are secured and Kurdish opposition groups are disarmed.
Iran has also accused Kurdish dissident groups of working on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency by smuggling into the country from the Kurdistan Region the parts of three drones that were used to carry out a strike on the Isfahan military facility in late January.
In March last year, Iran attacked Erbil with twelve ballistic missiles, hitting the residence of a well-known Kurdish businessman. The IRGC claimed responsibility for targeting “the strategic center of the Zionist conspiracy and evil by point-to-point missile.” Kurdish authorities vehemently rejected this accusation. A fact-finding committee set up by the Iraqi parliament to investigate the claims found no evidence of espionage activities in the area attacked.
The KRG, which has cordial relations with Tehran, has on several occasions called on neighboring countries and armed Kurdish groups to not use the Region’s land as an arena to settle scores.
