Iran Strikes Kurdish Opposition Parties in Iraq’s KRG Blaming Them For Protests

(Wladimir Van Wilgenburg)

On November 20 Tehran launched its third strike on Iranian opposition groups inside Iraq’s Kurdistan. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard hit a refugee camp and a headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party and Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan with drones and missiles. Previously on November 14 and September 28 those parties were attacked.

 

The Iranian government warned Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) that it needed to secure its border with Iran and control the Kurdish opposition or it might launch a ground incursion. The real reason for these attacks and threats is that Iran is trying to divert attention away from its on going protests. Those started after 22 year old Masha Amini was arrested by the morality police and died in detention in September. That set off protests across the country and clashes with the security forces. Tehran is now trying to blame the street action and violence on the Kurdish opposition that resides in Iraq. It can’t blame its own policies and government so it is trying to turn attention elsewhere.

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, “Iran Hits Opposition Parties in Kurdistan Region Again,” 11/20/22

 

BBC, “Iran: A really simple guide to the protests,” 11/20/22

 

eKurd, “Iran threatens Iraqi Kurdistan with ground offensive, blames Kurds for unrest,” 11/19/22

 

Al Hurra, “Iran bombed a camp and headquarters of the Kurdish opposition in Erbil,” 11/20/22

 

Karadsheh, Jomana, Qiblawi, Tamara, and Pourahmadi, Adam, “How Iran’s protests transformed into a national uprising,” CNN, 10/13/22