Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned they will carry on with attacks in neighboring Iraq until they disarm Kurdish groups that they have accused of spreading unrest in the Islamic republic.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Wednesday launched a barrage of missile and drone strikes on Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, killing 14 people including a US citizen.
In a statement late Thursday, the Guards said they were using “all kinds of missiles, kamikaze, and combat drones” in the operations against bases and headquarters of what they called “terrorists.”
“These operations will continue until the terrorist groups are disarmed and we ask the central government and the government of the northern region of Iraq to show more seriousness in their responsibilities towards Iran as a neighbour,” the statement added.
The Guards have accused Iraq-based Kurdish groups of “attacking and infiltrating Iran… to sow insecurity and riots and spread unrest”.
A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iran’s Kurdistan province, died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly not observing the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
The street violence has led to the deaths of dozens of people — mostly protesters but also members of the security forces — and hundreds of arrests.
Protests have rocked especially Kurdish communities in western Iran that share strong connections with Kurdish-inhabited areas of Iraq.
