Iran Defends Attack On Iraqi Kurdistan

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry

Iran has claimed its attacks on the Iraqi Kurdistan region were in line with “the defense of the country's sovereignty, security, and ongoing counterterrorism efforts.”

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated on Tuesday that the operation formed a crucial component of the Islamic Republic's strategy to administer "punishment against those who threaten the country's security."

He claimed that Iran is “committed to exercising its legitimate and legal right to address threats to national security, safeguard its citizens, and prosecute criminals.”

Though not mentioned, the declaration may be linked to the Kerman attacks on January 3, which resulted in a loss of nearly one hundred lives and scores of injuries along the route leading to the burial site of former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani. The attack was later claimed by the Islamic State. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also announced on Tuesday that their operations “successfully” targeted gathering places of key commanders and elements associated with “recent terrorist activities'', particularly those linked to ISIS, in Syria. The IRGC's Aerospace Force Commander, Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, disclosed that four Khaibar-class ballistic missiles were launched from southern Khuzestan to a destination in Idlib, Syria, controlled by a group labeled as a "terrorist group."

Hajizadeh provided additional details, saying that, in addition to the operations in Khuzestan, in the south, four missile launches originated from Kermanshah, west of Iran and seven were launched from West Azarbaijan, targeting "Zionist regime facilities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq."

The reported target of the IRGC's attack was the residence of Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, a multimillionaire involved in oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan to Israel.

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency alleged that the attacks were in direct response to the assassination of specific IRGC and "resistance front" commanders by Israel.