ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday threatened to invade the Kurdistan Region to cleanse the area of armed opposition groups, accusing them of fomenting the weeks-long unrest which has gripped Iran since Tehran's morality police killed a young Kurdish woman in custody last month.
"In case of inability of some neighbors in expelling elements of separatist terrorists and hypocrites stationed in the border areas," the IRGC said on Saturday, referring to the Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region. "The armored and special forces units of the Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces are ready to be deployed to free this region of these evils forever."
The threats come as ordinary Iranians poured into the streets in large numbers on Saturday chanting against the regime. The security forces fired on a vehicle on Saturday in the city of Sanandaj, killing the driver during protests, Hengaw Human Rights Organisation reported.
IRGC and its militia wing, the Basij, are heavily involved in violently cracking down on the protest movement. The IRGC is recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States and while it has no official social media accounts, the threats are reported by channels affiliated to the forces across different platforms.
The latest threat comes after the IRGC fired a barrage of missiles and drones on September 28, targeting locations deep inside the Kurdistan Region, killing at least 16 people including a pregnant woman and her baby.
One drone that appeared to be heading towards a base hosting US forces in the Region's capital of Erbil was shot down, but numerous others struck their intended targets, causing havoc among the Kurdish opposition groups.
For the past two weeks, the IRGC has shelled and bombed Erbil province's border area near Haji Omaran and has used threatening language against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to remove these groups from the border areas.
On Saturday, Chief of Staff of Iran's armed forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri commended the police and other security forces for cracking down on the protests which he described as a "conspiracy" and a "big sedition" by foreign countries.
Bagheri added that unrest may continue in Iran but reassured his audience that the police, with the help of IRGC and the Basij, will crush the protest.
Students could be heard shouting "Raisi get lost" in the University of Al-Zahra in Tehran, referring to President Ebrahim Raisi who had visited the university.
