Iran threatens to attack the Kurds

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Gen-Mohammad-PakpourThe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Deputy Commander addressed recent clashes between the IRGC and Kurdish separatists in Iran’s northwestern provinces that border Iraq .

He stated, “I warn officials in northern Iraq to abide by their commitments… We will destroy any threat against the Islamic Republic’s [political] system without any hesitation.”

IRGC Ground Forces Commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour also stated recently that Iran will target “terrorists’ primary bases” in northern Iraq if Iraq does not “act upon its commitments” to secure the area, Iranian Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday

Clashes erupted this month between Kurdish fighters and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), with each side claiming to have inflicted casualties on the other. The country’s heavily censored media have even reported the fighting and acknowledged fatalities on the government side. But why the sudden flare-up?

Iranian Kurdish fighter
Iranian Kurdish fighter

Who is fighting and how widespread is the violence?

The past two weeks of fighting have reportedly pitted official forces against members of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), with deadly clashes between the IRGC and Kurdish rebels in heavily Kurdish northwestern Iran, near the border with Iraq. Combat was reported on June 15-16 in Oshnavieh, in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province. More fighting followed in the nearby Sarvabad, Mahabad, and Marivan regions.

On June 28, the IRGC said its forces had killed 11 Kurdish rebels in the Sarvabad region. An IRGC commander, Mohammad Hossein Rajabi, said three of his troops were also killed in the clashes. The KDPI claims that several of its fighters and more than 20 IRGC members have been killed, and it accuses Iranian forces of shelling villages on the border over the weekend.

What are the militants after, and why now?

The KDPI has been waging a battle for independence and greater rights for Iranian Kurds for decades. The KDPI’s military operations and confrontation with the Iranian regime surged following the 1989 assassination of the party’s leader, Abdol Rahman Ghassemlou. But the group, whose fighters are mostly based in northern Iraq, announced a cease-fire in 1997.

The fresh clashes follow an announcement by the KDPI’s secretary-general, Mostafa Hejri, urging Kurdish youths to join its ranks and unite “the struggle in the cities and in the mountains.” Hejri’s statement, made in March to mark the Persian New Year, Norouz, was interpreted as a call to renew the armed struggle against Iran.
map of kurdish areas
But KDPI officials have suggested that the group is merely trying to expand its contacts with Kurds inside Iran and recruit new forces.

“We are not trying to launch a war — the war with the Islamic republic [Iran] has been going on for the past 37 years,” Rostam Jahangiri, a member of the political office of the KDPI, told RFE/RL last week in a reference to the postrevolutionary establishment nearly four decades ago of Iran’s theocratic government.

Kamran Matin, a senior lecturer in international relations at the University of Sussex, says the KDPI claims it no longer has to sacrifice its own interests — meaning Iranian Kurds’ interests — to ensure the security of Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government.

“They feel it’s time for them to be present inside Iranian Kurdistan,” Matin says of the heavily Kurdish region of Iran. “It’s important to note that they don’t claim they have initiated a new round of armed struggle. They claim they simply send their troops to be present, they’re acting in self-defense. But then, in military terms, if an armed group is inside Iranian territory, it’s highly likely to be attacked by the Iranian security forces.”

Stockholm-based journalist Saman Rasoulpour says the KDPI’s leadership appears to believe that confrontation with Iranian forces might win the group new supporters among Iran’s estimated 8 million Kurds, who have long complained of discrimination, repression, and political underrepresentation.

“The leaders of this party believe that military activities — which according to their interpretation are defensive actions [against Iranian forces] — is a sign of a party’s dynamism that could strengthen their base within the population,” Rasoulpour says.

“In a way, in their eyes, armed struggle means that they’re active and that they can create challenges for the [Iranian] establishment,” he adds.

KDPI officials have signaled that the group’s fighters will continue their excursions into Iranian territory.

“Our party is determined to fulfill our pledge to interlock the struggle [of the Kurdish forces] in the mountains with the struggle [of the Kurdish people] in the cities,” Hejri was quoted as saying by the KDPI’s website on June 19.

What are Iranian authorities saying publicly about the violence?

IRGC commanders have said they have been fighting “terrorists with ties to counterrevolutionary groups.” The IRGC has warned that its forces are carefully monitoring “any movement” in the border region and will not allow the “sustainable peace and security” of the people to be disrupted by “terrorists.”

The commander of IRGC ground forces, Mohammad Pakpour, has warned that Iran could launch raids on KDPI positions in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

“Since the main bases of these terrorists is in northern Iraq, if they fail to act on their commitments not to engage in anti-security measures, their bases will be targeted wherever they are,” Pakpour was quoted as saying by domestic media earlier this week.

In 2011, Iran targeted the camps in Iraq of another Kurdish rebel group, the Party of Free Life Of Kurdistan (PJAK).

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106 responses to “Iran threatens to attack the Kurds”

  1. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    Iran will face a ugly situation here. Good to keep them busy as they love to flex their muscle. Those Kurds need some gret weapon to defend themselves from these shits

    1. Hind Abyad Avatar
      Hind Abyad

      And you will face ugly Hell meantime this will give Joy for end of ramadan, you sick Salafi Wahaabi Deash.
      Jaysh Al-Islam who US refused to recognise as terrorists, captured Syria’s Air Force pilot & handed him to al-Qaeda. Allahuakbar arabarbarians

  2. MekensehParty Avatar
    MekensehParty

    Definitely what the Iranians needed, another front to send troops too
    Not a problem, Mahdi will supply

    1. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
      Ali Sajjadi

      Mahdi supply from his hole some Afghani or Pakistani idiots mass funeral get killed for $500 we destroyed the ISIS and we do same with this dirty scum bugs same

      1. Hind Abyad Avatar
        Hind Abyad

        Just second comment, “we destroyed the ISIS”?
        Syria has the right to “destroy” Afghani or Pakistani Taliban & other African- Asian invaders.
        Ali Sajjadi is Iranian name.

        1. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
          Ali Sajjadi

          I am an old school post revolution Kurdish freedoms fighter and fought against the mullah regime occupier go back to 1980

          1. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            The Chah left Iran in 1979 Mullah Khomeini came in 1980 Where did you destroy ISIS?

          2. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
            Ali Sajjadi

            if you want to understand the events which i have mentioned in my previous replied comment it is essential to know and understand the kurdish people struggle history from last centuries till recent post ISIS uprising my recommendation is using the Wikipedia as resource you can find heaps about kurds in their specific areas in middle eastern countries regarding of destroying the isis the kurdish fractions are the mainly reliable opposition that facing this islamic mess , myself since decades living in Europe and Australia i am active in medical sector as professional but i was in 80s a freedoms fighter still i am but in different way

          3. Reading Pierre Razoux’s magisterial history of the Iran-Iraq war now. The parts dealing with the Kurds are particularly (and tragically) fascinating.

          4. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
            Ali Sajjadi

            yes last 100 years the Kurdish people have experienced through many genocides and tragedies and suffered mostly under ottmon fascism

          5. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            You look honest tell me which part of the Kurds took an active role in the Armenian Genocide alongside of the Otmans?

          6. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
            Ali Sajjadi

            of course some kurds followed the ottman animals and some rescue lives as well

          7. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            True.:)

          8. Always look for the Joo, always look for the Joo. Never fails. 🙂

          9. Omega Avatar

            Joo or not. Facts are facts.

          10. You wouldn’t know a fact if it was blowing a fart in your face.

          11. Omega Avatar

            So far, you’ve shown zero facts. So you know …

          12. “So far, you’ve shown zero facts.”
            I’m not into tutoring for free, buddy. Especially when the pupil would be better off in a special ed class.

          13. Omega Avatar

            To “tutor”, you have to know first. All you’ve done so far, and your comments are the testimony of it, is troll, spam and try to silence anyone who expose the bs.

          14. Oh Yeah Avatar
            Oh Yeah

            Your suggestion to Hind is misplaced, (“recommendation is using the Wikipedia as resource”)simply because Abyad claims that Zionists control the Wikipedia, furthermore Zionists control the world….!

          15. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
            Ali Sajjadi

            i am not sure with your theory that everything been controlled by whatever you called but you can find some resource in google and also by firatnews.com or by rudaw.com thanks

          16. Oh Yeah Avatar
            Oh Yeah

            You misunderstood my comment.
            It is not me that claim “.. that everything been controlled by whatever you called ..”, it is the signature “Hind Abyad” opinion.

          17. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            I don’t need Wikipedia edited & re-edited.
            All my life i knew of the Kurds, some lived in tents down the cliff of my grand mother house on Beyrouth Sea front when i was a child.
            Why Kurds are taking Assyrian Christians abandoned properties? Thy lived there for 6000 years became refugees after Turk MB and ISSIS massacres in Syria?
            Copying the Zionist state?

          18. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
            Ali Sajjadi

            my dear friend i am political ideological close to YPJ and i know exactly what is going on and also i see the things rationally and factual and also have many Assyrian friends in Australian and Germany Assyrian community i dont know where you get all these stuff i see many contradictions in your populism . thousands of Assyrian fighting in YPJ ranks and many are pro assad as well like pro sadam in old days that is real image of middle east chaos since 100 years .also the only way to rescue is living together in a democratically respectfully modern society as human being . thanks

          19. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            They are many Kurdish groups YPJ is my preference, i was talking about Iraq.
            But i got worried about this Syrian document.

          20. Omega Avatar

            the kurdish people struggle history from last centuries

            The struggle of the Kurdish people is 100% attributable to the West not delivering the Kurds their promised piece of real estate. Why don’t you mention that?

            my recommendation is using the Wikipedia as resource

            (laughing)

  3. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
    Ali Sajjadi

    we will give the Iranian animals a nasty lesson like 30 years ago down with Islamic fascism

    1. Hind Abyad Avatar
      Hind Abyad

      Joined today? First comment…

      1. Omega Avatar

        A communist Kurd who blames Iran for the struggle of the Kurds while, conveniently forgetting, that the Kurds were duped and lied to by the West for a piece of real estate from the Ottoman Empire.

    2. Wishing you success, without the habitual cynicism.

      1. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
        Ali Sajjadi

        thank you

        1. Omega Avatar

          He thanks you because you are against Iran. Just saying.

          1. I don’t think either side finds that to be a problem, mate. Just saying. 🙂

          2. Omega Avatar

            Says you.

    3. Omega Avatar

      Kurds will give nothing. They have been duped/lied to by the West for a piece of real estate and never got it. Every time the West or someone in the Middle East need cheap fighters, guess who they call? The Kurds.

    4. Rascal Avatar

      Marg bar Khamenei

      1. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
        Ali Sajjadi

        and his sandiskhors like the idiot over here

  4. Rascal Avatar

    I certainly hope the US will at least offer the Iraqi Kurds air support and bomb the invading Iranians and possible push into northern Iranian Kurdish areas to form the New Kurdistan.

    1. Hind Abyad Avatar
      Hind Abyad

      “When President Saddam Hussein attacked the Kurdish city Halabja with chemical weapons in 1988, it was the Iranians who moved in to aid the wounded while the West largely turned a blind eye or tried to absolve Saddam from responsibility. Tehran evacuated thousands of Kurdish victims and brought in reporters to document the atrocity. The act didn’t go unnoticed. “My mother is forever grateful for what the Iranian government and people did to save my grandfather’s eyes,” said Halabja native Rebaz Ali. “Growing up, she always wanted her children to know that Iranians played a major role in saving the lives of thousands of people who fled the gas attack. She still keeps in touch with some of the people who provided help after the attack, she even visited them a couple of years ago.”
      Don’t you worry Barzani northern Iraq is an autonomous region.

      1. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
        Ali Sajjadi

        not true i was there and seen how this murders attacked our comrades and also the presence of iranian troops in area was the main provocative reason of this genocide,those fascists killed our friend which were been wounded by serine gas attack , you should understand the islamic fascism has to faces isis and other side of coin is shyhe the main enemy of humanity that is what we have to deal and destroy them before the humanity get destroyed

        1. Omega Avatar

          comrades

          A communist Kurd; great.

          1. Rascal Avatar

            He certainly has more credibility than your fairy tales.

          2. Omega Avatar

            What fairytales?

          3. I am not gay, but there’s no need to insult the LGBT community by referring to “Omega” as “fairy”. 🙂

    2. wargame1 Avatar
      wargame1

      Many party will be interested to supply arms to these Kurds. Saudi Arabia will be happy to send some anti tank missile.

      1. Hind Abyad Avatar
        Hind Abyad

        They already have US and Israel.

  5. Oh Yeah Avatar
    Oh Yeah

    When I see how large area (on this map) the Kurd’s live in, I find it hard to digest how it is that the Kurd’s have no state of their own.

    1. Rascal Avatar

      Remember, the British just drew lines on a map. They did not care about the different ethnic groups or tribes. IMO, the Kurds are way more deserving of their own state than the Palies ever were.

      1. Oh Yeah Avatar
        Oh Yeah

        The whole Middle East and Africa has the drawn lines on a map as a border….

      2. Hind Abyad Avatar
        Hind Abyad

        Immoral fascist ZioNazi. Israel founded “gangsters style” (Einstein’s words) Irgun terrorists.
        5 year later founding the Jabotinsky Party: Likud.

        1. Rascal Avatar

          But invasions and occupations are ok for the hypocrite shiites, check. Look at Lebanon and the mess it is in because of illegal covert occupation of Southern Lebanon.
          Hypocrites first class. Right now Iran is arranging the propaganda and weapons smuggling to many countries in the ME, your Iranian buddies are surely no angels and far from taking the moral high ground. They are shown themselves to be very eager to push many wars and practice terrorism with the best of them.

          1. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            occupations are ok for the hypocrite zionist.

          2. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            No there not. Defending oneself is necessary though.

          3. Omega Avatar

            Do you see Iran stealing Lebanese lands?

            Like the Neanderthal Ashke-Nazis from Europe did in Palestine or KSA did in Beirut’s Solidere?

          4. Rascal Avatar

            I really hope you are acting stupid, because I am seriously convinced you are.
            Iran has troops, proxies, minions and puppets all across the ME pushing for war and smuggling weapons. Iran is doing its part in inflaming the entire region. If you are working with them you certainly don’t know much about where they have their armed forces. Try to keep up to date will ya?

          5. Omega Avatar

            I am well aware of that but waging proxy wars is no stealing lands.

          6. He is not “acting” stupid. He really is.

          7. “Do you see Iran stealing Lebanese lands?”
            It bdoesn’t need to . Its proxy has already hijacked all, or most, of Lebanon. Kinda same result at one-tenth the expense.

          8. Omega Avatar

            Following your “logic”, the USA is accountable for the same in the Middle East then.

          9. But then that’s precisely what YOU believe, moron. 🙂

          10. Omega Avatar

            Didn’t you just write: You wouldn’t know a fact if it was blowing a fart in your face. ?

          11. You represent a rare combination of Arab idiocy and European pedantry, mate. Which serves as an example for the proposition that two negatives do not necessarily make a positive. 🙂

          12. Omega Avatar

            Trying to sound intelligent Rick D?

          13. Whatever you try to say, you just sound like you, pal. 🙂

          14. Omega Avatar

            Sure, Rick D.

          15. master09 Avatar
            master09

            As Omega comments below HA is not occupying The south.
            But is the police and army allowed to enter 50% of the South, NO they would be shot, they started to enter our airport and that was fine no one in the south pays a single dollar in rates to the State and that’s fine. Can you or I enter the south as a free Lebanese without HA members telling you to go back. As we was told by Little big Hassan last week clearly they are on the hand of Iran blood to blood.

          16. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            What the hell are you hypocrite sooo worried about Lebanon, Israel is now the new Fascist Nazis State, all you do here is pro Nazi Likood propaganda

        2. The degenerate probably sincerely believes that Einstein was an anti-Zionist. And a fan of Michel Aflaq. 🙂

          1. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            In the “God Letter” Einstein also covered the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament claim that the Hebrews/Jews are chosen by God “above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)
            “For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong … have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything “chosen” about them.”

            Regarding his visit to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and watching religious Jews praying: “Where dull-witted clansmen of our tribe were praying aloud, their faces turned to the wall, their bodies swaying to and fro. A pathetic sight of men with a past but without a future. “Should we be unable to find a way to honest cooperation and honest pacts with the Arabs, then we have learned absolutely nothing during our 2,000 years of suffering and deserve all that will come to us.”

          2. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            So what. It’s obvious that Jews wanted the nation of Israel with or without Einstein’s approval.

          3. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            Retard

          4. Omega Avatar

            Jews in Europe would have settled for a land anywhere. It’s the Jewish Elite in Europe and in the USA who wanted Palestine.

            Get your facts straight.

          5. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Then why did so many Jews from various nations move to Israel and fight for the creation of a modern Israel?

          6. Omega Avatar

            Did they have a choice?

          7. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Yup, that’s why many remained. Choice.

          8. Omega Avatar

            Nope.

            Many moved because they were promised a land/housing, work/money.

            And as I am sure you know, there is no free lunch.

          9. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Okay, yet some remained.

            “Many moved because they were promised a land/housing, work/money.” A common reason for immigration. My country, the USA, was built on that.

          10. Omega Avatar

            Some? Most remained. They had nothing and were given a fresh start (persecuted Jews of Europe after WW2).

            Plus, would you prefer balls-freezing Moscow, rainy/cloudy Berlin or sunny Tel-Aviv? And, the Lebanese/Syrian/Palestinian food is godly good next Jewish/Russian/German “cuisine”.

            Your country was built like IsraHell was: the killing of its inhabitants and the theft of their lands.

          11. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Many Jews remained where they were by their choice, not your personal interpretations of comfort.

            As far as the USA goes, would you like to lump that in with South America, Canada, Australia, Asia, just the rest of the world.

          12. Omega Avatar

            “My” interpretation of comfort is just that: choice. Not sure what you are arguing about.

            Most (not all) of the world that Europeans colonized, yes.

          13. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Do you think it will be given back?

          14. Omega Avatar

            What will be given back?

          15. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Good night.

          16. Omega Avatar

            Answer to Edit: good until the crypto-Jew Dönmehs and British-sponsored Wahhabism took it down.

          17. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Good!

          18. Omega Avatar

            Point being?

          19. Rascal Avatar

            “Your country was built like IsraHell was: the killing of its inhabitants and the theft of their lands.”

            So, what is your point, Mr. Holier than thou? All countries have been created this way. You don’t know much about history either do you?

          20. Omega Avatar

            You seem mad but you shouldn’t be. I was pointing out.

            The only countries that have been created by the killing of its inhabitants and the theft of their lands are the ones of the Crown: USA, Canada, Australia/New Zealand, IsraHell, the myriad of islands, etc.

          21. Omega here is a world-renowned expert on the Jooz. But that’s not all: turns out his encyclopedic knowledge extends as far as the frozen shores of Finland. 🙂

          22. Rascal Avatar

            She is Captain Obvious.

          23. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            Looks like i am Captain Obvious…Razkhal

            ‘Syrian Kurds declare Qamishli their new capital’.. that’s bad bad bad
            https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-kurds-declare-qamishli-new-capital/

          24. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
            Ali Sajjadi

            wow

          25. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            Assyrians are emotionally attached to Quamishli :l(

          26. Ali Sajjadi Avatar
            Ali Sajjadi

            that is historical kurdish area but in the autonomous apart and council the Assyrian are presenting strongly i dont understand why some Assyrian behavior themselves chauvinistic and pro bahess and pan arbic , This autonomy has democratic structure and is best alternative for middle eastern barbarism you can review their manifest which as constitutional out comes presented ,perhaps you will change your mind

          27. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            Also in Iraq..strange why the choose Christian areas..counselled by Israeli-US allies.. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/christians-kurdistan-iraq.html?utm_

        3. Rudy1947 Avatar
          Rudy1947

          It’s common knowledge that Einstein didn’t like Begin, but Einstein wasn’t living in Israel. Through the efforts of Begin and thousands of Jews, Israel became a nation. The Arab chose a different path and have been unsuccessful since.

          1. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            ———

          2. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            He had a Genius IQ didn’t he, prophesying Zionist “path”

          3. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Did Einstein build a nation or a theory?

          4. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            He was against the creation of Is rael

          5. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            He lost.

          6. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            The Balfour Declaration lost too.

          7. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            BFD. Israel is still a viable nation while the PaliArabs have Jordan and Abbas. Israel wins again.

          8. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            Good for you.

          9. Barry Avatar

            what a shock. bringing up Jews and Zionists for an article about Iran attacking Kurds. makes total sense…

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