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    Iran attacked Iraqi Kurdistan with ballistic missiles and drones

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    Iranian media, citing information from the press service of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported yesterday that the Pasdarani attacked with ballistic missiles and ammunition circulating on Kurdish territory in Iraq. There were firing positions in the last West Azerbaijan, missiles fell on the targets at 10.30 am local time.

    Iranian news agencies – loyal to the Tehran regime – reported that targets dispersed in forty-two locations, and in some cases 400 kilometers apart, were attacked. The attacks were concentrated in the As-Sulajmanijja muhafases (ten bases were attacked in this area) and the Irbil; the capital of the latter is also the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. The missiles also fell on various targets in the vicinity of Kuj Sandżak and Zirgwez. The regional health ministry in Erbil said in a statement that thirteen people had been killed and fifty-eight injured.

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    The attack was clearly directed against the Kurdish military-political leadership. This may be confirmed by the fact that the buildings of the Organization of Revolutionary Workers of Iranian Kurdistan (Komala) also suffered. The estate of its leader Abdullah Mohtadi, sixteen kilometers southwest of As-Sulajmaniya, was also attacked. Buildings belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party in the Kirkuk province also suffered. The most devastating, however, was the attack on the headquarters of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, 65 kilometers east of Irbil.

    KDPI sources said that civilian housing estates, including a school near the party’s headquarters, were also hit. Khalid Azizi, a spokesman for KDPI, said two women were among those killed and several children were seriously injured. One of the victims, Rajhana Kanani, was twenty-four years old and pregnant. Her child was saved. Saman Barzanżi, the Kurdish minister of health, said ambulances had difficulty reaching some of the infested areas in remote, mountainous areas and that the death toll could increase.

    “These cowardly attacks came at a time when the terrorist regime of Iran is unable to crack down on the ongoing protests and silence the civic resistance of the Kurdish and Iranian peoples,” the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran tweeted.

    The commander of the Iranian army, Sardar Pakpour, stated that seventy-three ballistic missiles had been dropped on Iraq. Iranian media indicate that targets belonging to “anti-Iranian terrorist groups” have been fired upon. Undoubtedly, Iranian aggression is motivated by the will to retaliate against the Kurds. Pasdarani see them as Iran’s arsonists during the riots following the murder of Kurdish Zina (Mahsa) Amini by the Iranian moral police, detained on charges of not complying with the rules of wearing the hijab.

    Iranian authorities have accused the Iranian Kurds of fueling the unrest that is currently shaking Iran, especially in the northwest, where most of the more than 10 million Kurdish population lives. At least 1,500 Kurdish activists have been arrested in recent days. During the riots, the daughter of former president Akbar Hashem Rafsanjani was also arrested.

    Iranian media – as always – also blame “external forces”, namely Israel and Saudi Arabia, saying they seek to create “independent Kurdistan” out of Iranian territories. Undoubtedly, the reason for yesterday’s attack on the sovereign state was the desire not only to punish the Kurds, but also to divert attention from the difficult economic situation of the country plagued by American sanctions. The eroding power of ayatollahs desperately seeks reinforcement and finds a convenient scapegoat. She herself does not choose the means and tries to suppress protests with sophisticated ruthlessness.

    Moreover, the leaders of the Iranian Kurdish opposition agree that Iran hit them in order to divert attention from the root cause of the riots against the government. Tehran has announced that the operation will continue with full determination until the alleged threat from the Kurds is effectively neutralized and the bases of “terrorist groups” are liquidated.

    The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks and called on the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to inform him of his opposition to attacks on Iraqi territories and considering the operation a violation of sovereignty. The US Central Command reported that an F-15 fighter shot down one Iranian Mohajer-6 that was flying towards Irbil. The UAV was considered a threat to US personnel in Iraq. The ballistic missiles and circulating ammunition did no harm to the Americans, however.

    According to unconfirmed information, the Arash-2 long-range circulating ammunition was used to fire on Kurdish settlements. Its existence and transfer to the land forces for trial purposes was reported this month by the commander of the Iranian land forces, Brigadier General Kiomars Hyderi. For propaganda purposes, it was announced that the drone was to be designed to hit objects in Israel, in particular Tel Aviv (1,235 kilometers from the Iranian border) or Haifa (1,300).

    The photos posted on the Internet show that the UAV is fired from a container launcher installed on the truck. It is unclear how many Iran has in service. A dozen or so days ago, however, it was assured that the land forces were to be ready for its use. It turned out that Iraqi Kurdistan became a testing ground to test the effectiveness of Arash-2.

    It is worth recalling, however, that this is not the first such attack on Iraqi territory by a neighbor. On the night of March 12-13, from six to twelve ballistic missiles, most likely Fateha-110 with a range of 300 kilometers, were hit in Erbil. They were fired from Khassabad in the last East Azerbaijan, about 250 kilometers from Irbil. The Fatehy-110 is equipped with a 225-kilogram warhead and is considered one of the most accurate Iranian missiles. It is possible that Mobins with a range of up to 500 kilometers and possibly even better accuracy were also used.

    The targets were the US consulate under construction and the airport used as an American base. The consulate was empty, so if the Iranians had good intelligence, their goal was not to kill the Americans. A different nature of the target may have been explaining this event: the estate of Baza Karina, a Kurdish oil magnate and alleged associate of the Mossad. Misaligned missiles struck near the consulate building, not on the property. There is no doubt that the attack on Erbil was Tehran’s retaliation for the Israeli attack on Damascus in early March. Two Pasdarans were killed then.

    See also: Jordan got approval to purchase the F-16 Block 70/72

    Mohammad Sadegh Heydari, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

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