Tehran’s intransigent response to popular protest goes beyond the country’s borders. On Wednesday, September 28, Iran carried out drone and missile strikes against areas of neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan, where Iranian Kurdish opposition movements are based. They actively denounce the repression of demonstrations in the Islamic Republic, provoked by the death of Mashsa Amini after his arrest by the morality police on September 16.
These shots, claimed by Iran, damaged and destroyed buildings in the Zrgoiz sector, about fifteen kilometers from Suleimaniyah, where the premises of several Iranian Kurdish left-wing armed opposition parties are located, in particular those of Komala . It was not possible to immediately assess the extent of the damage, nor the number of injured or dead.
A correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Zrgoiz saw plumes of white smoke rising from one of the sites hit by the strikes, where ambulances were dispatched. Residents fled the scene, while slightly injured people were being treated on the spot by a party doctor. “The area where we are was hit by ten drone strikes”reported to AFP an official of Komala, Atta Nasser, pointing the finger at Iran.
The Sherawa region, south of Erbil, was also targeted by bombardment. “Premises of the Kurdistan Freedom Party were targeted by Iranian bombardments”, denounced to AFP a leader of this Iranian opposition party, Hussein Yazdanpana.
In Tehran, Iranian state television claimed that “the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards [l’armée idéologique de la République islamique] targeted several headquarters of separatist terrorists in northern Iraq with precision missiles and destructive drones”. In recent days, Iranian artillery fire had repeatedly targeted border areas of Iraqi Kurdistan, north of Erbil, without causing significant damage.
“Those who disturb the order”
These strikes come in a tense context in Iran, where daily nocturnal demonstrations have rocked the country since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Iraqi Kurdistan hosts several Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, which historically have waged an armed insurrection against Tehran, although in recent years their activities have declined. However, they remain very critical on social networks.
In addition, the police command in Iran, quoted by the Fars news agency, warned on Wednesday that its units would oppose “with all their might” to the demonstrators “and will act throughout the country firmly against those who disturb public order and security”. According to the organization Iran Human Rights, based in Oslo, at least seventy-six people had been killed in the demonstrations as of September 26.