Armed Attack on Police Station in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan

The governor of Sardasht County in West Azerbaijan Province reported that two motorcyclists attacked a police station in the city with three sound grenades, stating that there were no casualties from the incident. According to the state news agency IRNA, Aziz Hasani announced on Tuesday, August 9, that the two unidentified motorcyclists threw three sound grenades into the '11 Martyr Ali Pour' police station on Monday evening. He reported that the explosions caused damage to the windows of nearby vehicles and several shops. Mr. Hasani stated that the forces at the police station fired at the attackers, and the confrontation lasted about 10 minutes. According to the report, the two motorcyclists, who covered their faces, ultimately managed to escape. No reports have yet been released regarding the identity of these motorcyclists or their affiliation with any specific group. Sardasht borders the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and every year there are reports of armed conflicts in this area. For instance, on May 5, IRNA reported the deaths of Rahman Ebrahimi and Mohammad Aboubakri, two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in clashes with armed opposition groups in Sardasht. Subsequently, on June 14, the IRGC ground forces reported the deaths of five members of PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan) and accused them of involvement in the killings of these individuals. Western provinces of Iran have witnessed an escalation of clashes between Iranian security forces and armed opposition groups, including the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and PJAK, in recent months. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan announced on July 26 that it had increased its military presence in 'most areas' of Iranian Kurdistan 'on a wider scale and as part of a defensive tactic.' Meanwhile, 400 Kurdish political and cultural activists condemned the recent clashes in Kurdistan on July 11, emphasizing that 'the armed presence of individuals and groups only exacerbates the security atmosphere in this region and has no other outcome than negatively impacting the development process of Kurdistan.' Abdullah Ramadanzadeh, the governor of Kurdistan during Mohammad Khatami's administration and government spokesman, Ehsan Hoshamand, a researcher, and Marouf Samadi, a former representative of Sanandaj, were among the signatories of this statement. In recent days, the execution of 20 Sunni Kurdish prisoners has drawn protests from Human Rights Watch, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Iranian human rights organizations. Iranian officials accuse the executed individuals of actions such as 'the assassination of cleric Mowlavi Borhan Ali, a Sunni religious figure, and Mowlavi Sheikh al-Islam,' 'committing several armed robberies from jewelry stores in the cities of Qorveh, Zanjan, and Hamadan,' and the murder of 'several environmental guards in Kurdistan Province.' Many of these individuals have denied the accusations and, in videos and writings published from them, have stated that they had been in 'solitary confinement' and 'under torture' for a long time. In this context, at least 14 people were killed in the latest clashes between the IRGC and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. Two were killed in an armed attack on a vehicle carrying a member of parliament in Kermanshah. Rezaei: Saudi Arabia has activated armed groups against Iran. 'Three suspects' have been arrested in connection with the attack on the Kermanshah officials' convoy. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan announced an increase in military presence in Iranian territory. The Attorney General of Iran announced that the number of executed members of the 'Tawhid and Jihad' group was 20.