Iran launched cross-border drone and missile strikes against Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq early Monday morning, killing at least one fighter.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have been attacking the Iranian Kurdish opposition bases in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, since the start of nationwide anti-government protests in Iran since the September 16 death of the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s morality police for wearing her hijab improperly.
Iran has accused the Kurdish groups of fomenting the protests.
The attacks come a day after Turkey carried out airstrikes against what it said are bases for armed Kurdish groups in northern Syria and Iraq, claiming that they were used as a base for attacks on Turkey, including the explosion at a popular pedestrian mall in downtown Istanbul last weekend that left six dead and dozens wounded.
US Central Command commander Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said in a statement: “We condemn this evening’s Iranian cross-border missile and unmanned aerial vehicle strikes near Erbil, Iraq. Such indiscriminate and illegal attacks place civilians at risk, violate Iraqi sovereignty, and jeopardize the hard-fought security and stability of Iraq and the Middle East.”