IRGC Confirms Missile Strike on Terrorists in Iraqi Kurdistan

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) confirmed on Sunday that it had launched a missile attack on a center in Iraqi Kurdistan that was used for training anti-Iran terrorists and hosted a meeting of terrorist leaders.

“In a successful operation, the Guards’ aerial unit, along with the army’s drone unit targeted a criminal group’s meeting and a terrorist training center with seven short-range surface-to-surface missiles,” the Guard said in a statement carried by Tasnim News Agency reported.

“Over the past months, terrorist groups affiliated to global arrogance have taken hostile measures from inside Iraqi Kurdistan against Iran’s border areas,” the statement said.

It added that several terrorist teams had been dispatched to Iran to carry out acts of sabotage and undermine security in the western provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah in the past several months.

“Thanks to the IRGC’s vigilance and preparedness, a number of operations were conducted over the past weeks which dealt heavy blows to the terrorists in Marivan and Kamyaran border regions,” it said.

The IRGC said its missile attack on Saturday morning came after Tehran had repeatedly informed authorities in Iraq’ semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to warn the terrorists not to carry out operations inside Iranian territory.

“Heads of the terrorist groups, however, did not heed the serious warnings from the Kurdistan Regional Government authorities about Iran’s resolve to destroy their bases.”

Authentic reports indicate that the center of plot against the Islamic Republic was destroyed in the missile attack and tens of leaders and major players in the terrorist group were killed and injured.

Iraqi Kurdish officials said Iran attacked the base of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing at least 11 people and wounding scores more, Reuters reported.

Turkey also ramped up airstrikes on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq this year. It routinely targets the PKK stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, near the border with Iran, where Ankara suspects high-ranking members of the militant group are located.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday said it rejected the Iranian attack.

In a statement, the ministry reiterated “rejection of the violation of Iraqi sovereignty by bombing any target within its territory without prior coordination with Iraqi authorities.”

The statement did not explicitly point the finger at Iran over the attack, but said “Iraq is keen on the security of its neighbors and rejects the use of its territory to threaten the security of these countries”, Anadolu reported.