On Sunday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed that Iran had fired seven short-range missiles into northern Iraq at what it said was “a meeting of the leaders of a criminal grouplet” and training center belonging to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), a militant group Tehran designates as a terrorist organization.
Iran's top military commander defended Saturday's strikes in the Koya area east of Erbil, Iraq, which killed at least 16 and injured several dozen others, citing Tehran's right to defend itself amid US “provocations.”
Iraqi Kurdish officials and the PDKI had “made a written commitment not to conduct operations in Iran, but they have been breaking that promise over the past year due to US provocations,” Armed Forces Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri said in a statement on Tuesday, according to PressTV.
“This is not acceptable to us and thus we repeatedly cautioned them,” the general added.
Bagheri also urged Baghdad and the regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan to either extradite or deport the remnants of these Iranian Kurdish separatists, and warned that further “counter-measures” would be taken against commanders if the group's attacks on Iranian military and border forces persist.
“The officials of Iraqi Kurdistan and the Iraqi government should hand these criminals over to Iran. If they cannot do this, they should at least…
