Tehran ramped up its assault on Kurdish forces in Iraq on Thursday following reports that the Iranian militias had launched a ground offensive against the regime.
Kurdish bases along the western border were struck by missiles, killing several members of the ethnic minority group, according to Iranian officials.
“We targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency said.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council, slammed the Iranian Kurds as a “separatist group” aiming to rip the country apart, warning them to stay out of Iran.
“We will not tolerate them in any way,” Larijani said in a statement.
The attack on Kurdish forces came just a day after reports emerged of the Iranian militias making a move around the border, with conflicting details on whether or not their fighters have mobilized a ground offensive.
The Iranian Kurds’ six major political parties came together under a single coalition on Wednesday with the direct goal of creating an autonomous region for themselves inside Iran, rejecting the “separatist” label.
Several of the groups put out statements that their troops were on standby near the border and have yet to mount an assault, with US and Israeli media reporting that the looming offensive was looking to divert Iran’s security forces to allow those inside the country to topple the regime.
If the Iranian Kurds — the most well-armed and experienced of the opposition groups — enter the battle, it would be the first major deployment of ground troops in the war with Tehran.
The move, however, could threaten the peace enjoyed by the Iraqi Kurds who allowed the Iranian exiles into their region on the condition that they not plot against Tehran.
There are an estimated 8 million Iranian Kurds. There are another 6 million people in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The US is reportedly backing the Kurds to take up arms against Iran, with President Trump offering the group “extensive US air cover” for such an operation, The Washington Post reported.
While the administration has denied coordinating plans to arm the Kurdish militias, several reports suggest the president has been speaking with Kurdish leaders this week and pressuring them to act.
“He told us the Kurds must choose a side in this battle — either with America and Israel or with Iran,” one Kurdish leader told the WaPo.
