Threat from Two Officials of the Islamic Republic Regarding Continued Attacks on the Headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party

The spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry described the Revolutionary Guard's missile attack on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party as "revengeful" and "preemptive," warning that the Islamic Republic will not tolerate any infringement on its "security" by terrorist elements. Meanwhile, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran also threatened on Tuesday, September 20, that if the "operations" of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran continue, "what happened to their commanders will happen again." According to this senior Iranian official, the authorities of the Kurdistan Region and the Kurdistan Democratic Party have carried out operations within Iran at the "instigation of the United States." Bahram Qasemi, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, stated in an interview with Al Jazeera, which was also published in Iranian media, that such actions are "not desirable for Iran." He mentioned that the actions of the opposing armed Kurdish groups, especially attacks on border forces, "forced the Iranian armed forces to take retaliatory, deterrent actions, and even based on some credible information, to take preemptive action." The missile attack by the Revolutionary Guard on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the city of Koysinjaq, Iraq, on Saturday, September 17, left at least 14 dead and 30 injured. Iraq called this action a "violation of its sovereignty." However, Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, stated on Tuesday that the recent missile response to the destabilizing actions of a terrorist group in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is a stance that will be applied in response to any threats. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, "We hope that with the measures that all parties are considering, the shared borders in this sensitive region will be the safest and most stable borders in the region." He warned that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not tolerate any infringement on its "security" and the aggression of terrorist elements that are anti-Iranian. On Tuesday, Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, also stated, "The Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government must not allow bases against Iran to be established, and they are criminals who must either hand over the remnants to us or expel them from their country." He added, "If these destabilizing events continue, what happened to their commanders will happen again, and the Iranian nation reserves the right to defend itself." Mr. Baqeri also claimed that the authorities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the Kurdistan Democratic Party had given a written commitment in 1996 not to carry out operations in Iran, but since last year, at the instigation of the United States, they have broken this vow, which was unacceptable to us, and therefore we had warned them several times. However, he did not provide evidence or documentation to support this claim. The Islamic Republic of Iran accuses the armed Kurdish groups of "separatism" and "connections with foreigners." On the other hand, these groups accuse the Islamic Republic of violating the rights of Kurds in Iran and claim that their goal is to pursue the rights of Kurds. In recent years, the Revolutionary Guard has bombarded areas of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq under the pretext of the presence of opposition forces and their operations. Despite repeated protests from the government of this region, the bombardment of the region by Iran has not stopped. The Tasnim news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guard, published an "exclusive" report on Tuesday with information and photos about the Revolutionary Guard's attack on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Some websites reported that four missiles fired had deviated from their path and hit a location in the city of Koysinjaq. However, Tasnim reported on Tuesday that these four missiles hit the training location of the Kurdistan Democratic Party forces. According to this news agency, the missiles used in this operation were Fateh 110, which have a range of 300 meters and are considered "precision-guided missiles." In this context, Reuters reported on Friday, September 9, the transfer of ballistic missiles from the Islamic Republic to Iraq and efforts to produce such missiles in that country, identifying Iranian missiles such as Zelzal, Fateh 110, and Zulfiqar as some of those transferred to Iraq. However, Tasnim wrote in its report that these missiles were fired from Iranian territory at the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Since 2016, after armed Kurdish opposition parties reported their military forces operating "on a larger scale" in "most areas" of Iranian Kurdistan, clashes between the forces of these parties and the Revolutionary Guard have increased.