'Iran launches new strikes' on Kurdish opposition in Iraq
Iran launched artillery and drone strikes on Saturday targeting Kurdish militants in Iraq's north, an Iranian Kurdish official has claimed, days after cross-border attacks killed 14 people.
Tehran has accused Kurdish armed groups based in Iraq's Kurdistan region of stoking a wave of unrest that has rocked the Islamic republic since Mahsa Amini, a Kurd, died in custody last month.
"The Iranian forces launched artillery fire and drone strikes" on bases used by exiled Iranian group Komala in the Mount Halgurd area, near the Iranian border, Atta Nasser, an official from Komala, told AFP.
The strikes "destroyed some outposts, without causing casualties among our ranks", Nasser said.
On Wednesday, a barrage of some 70 missiles and "kamikaze drone" strikes left 14 people dead and 58 wounded, Kurdish officials said. Iraqi Kurdish authorities said most of the casualties were civilians.
In a statement on Thursday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said they would press on with attacks on rear bases in neighbouring Iraq until Kurdish rebels had been disarmed.
"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," it said.
Iran has seen a major wave of protests since the death of Amini, 22, was announced on 16 September after her arrest by the "morality police". A crackdown has left dozens of demonstrators dead.
'Vague incident'
Several Iranian Kurdish groups have been based in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region for decades.
While combat activities have greatly declined over the years, they continue to mobilise on social media, playing a key role in circulating images of the protests in the aftermath of Amini's death.
'The Iranian state is a target and so any incident is exploited... to incite against this state'
- Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement has said that the death of Amini was a "vague incident" that was being exploited against Tehran.
In a speech on Saturday, Hassan Nasrallah said that her death, in circumstances he said remained unclear, was being exploited to incite the protests.
"The Iranian state is a target and so any incident is exploited... to incite against this state," Nasrallah said. "This vague incident was exploited and people took to the streets."
The Hezbollah chief, a staunch Iran ally, said the protests rocking the country did not reflect the true will of the Iranian people, who he said are loyal to their leadership.
Iran "is stronger than ever and will not be affected", he said.
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