IRGC Ratchets Up Threats Against Iraq-Based Kurdish Separatists

Perhaps as a way of deflecting public interest from the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in the custody of the morality police, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has ratcheted up its threats against Iraq-Based Kurdish separatists.

• September 13: IRGC mouthpiece Mashregh News commented on the flurry of diplomatic activity between Iran and Iraq concerning the fate of armed Iranian Kurdish separatist groups based in Iraq, which are supposed to be disarmed under a March 19 agreement between Baghdad and Tehran:
  • Iran “sending equipment to” the border “area” between Iran and Iraq “is a sign that the time for political and diplomatic negotiations has come to an end, and the fate of the terrorists will be sealed through military operations, missiles, and drones of the Revolutionary Guard … The doctrine behind dealings with the terrorists has three dimensions: defensive, operations, and offensive tactics, meaning Iran does not initially intend to attack any country, but should a threat arise, it will attack the source of the threat to annihilate it at its source. In such operations, equipment that does not impose the slightest harm on noncombatants will be used. The Revolutionary Guard will engage in surgical operations against the terrorists, but the operations will carry a message to the enemies and their mercenaries all over the region.”
  • Ending the article by discussing the recent deployment of IRGC forces to northwestern Iran near the border of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Mashregh concluded: “The fast transfer of armored vehicles to the northwestern borders shows the defeat of the enemy’s strategy of concentrating the terrorists outside of Iran’s borders … the recent activities of the Revolutionary Guard are a precise signal to the supporters and financial backers of terrorists in the region: The more tensions rise, the harder the blows will be!”

The views represented herein are the author's or speaker's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of AGSI, its staff, or its board of directors.