When asked about Iran’s involvement in the rocket attacks in Erbil during a press conference held while on a visit to Sulaimani's Chamchamal on Tuesday, Iranian Consul General Mahdi Shushtari said "we strongly deny these accusations that the Islamic Republic is behind these attacks."
“The security of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region is a part of our security,” said Shushtari. “Any insecurity in Iraq will result in insecurity in Iran, and vice versa,” he noted.
Iran has denied involvement in the frequent rocket and drone attacks on US interests in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, but a senior Iranian official and an Iraqi militia commander have said attacks, widely blamed on pro-Iran militias, will continue on the US in Erbil and Baghdad.
Despite being considered safer than other areas in Iraq, Kurdistan is still targeted.
Washington-Tehran tensions increased after the assassination of Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi) commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020. US retaliatory attacks on Iran-backed militias have added to their rivalry. The most recent was on June 28 in which four people were killed on the Iraq-Syria border, days after drones attacked an area close to the new US consulate in Erbil.
Regarding border security, Shushtari said that they are also being attacked by “some groups inside the Kurdistan Region” at the borders.
“Unfortunately we sometimes also face terrorist activities at our borders with the Kurdistan Region that are being carried out by some groups inside the Kurdistan Region,” he said.
Clashes often occur between Kurdish opposition groups and Iranian security forces, and in particular Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on a regular basis. Iran often shells the border areas after clashes, causing damage to the local environment and Kurdish civilians living nearby.
Kurdish opposition groups, seeking greater equal cultural and political rights for Kurds in Iran, have been in conflict with the government in Tehran for decades. These groups use the Kurdistan Region as a safe haven from which to launch attacks on Iranian security forces.
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