Iran attacks northern Iraqi Kurdish positions

• Iran’s IRGC has struck Kurdish outposts in northern Iraq.
• Anti-government rallies continue in Iran’s Kurdish-majority west and elsewhere.
• They targeted three places in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.

Iran’s IRGC has struck Kurdish outposts in northern Iraq as anti-government rallies continue in Iran’s Kurdish-majority west and elsewhere.

The special force’s ground division stated early Monday that it targeted three places in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region with missiles and drones, inflicting “serious damage” on two “terrorist” Kurdish factions.

Local sources told the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim website that 26 Komala and Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan members were slain.

US Central Command condemned the cross-border assaults, stating they violate Iraqi sovereignty and “threaten Iraq’s security and stability”

Since Iran’s protests began more than two months ago, the IRGC has struck positions it says are held by the organizations multiple times, claiming they bring weapons into the country and destabilize it.

The new attack comes days after IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani visited Iraq for high-level negotiations and after Tehran warned Baghdad to disband or remove the groups.

Protests erupted across Iran in mid-September after the death in detention of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman from Iran’s Kurdistan province. She was arrested by Tehran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s dress code for women.

In recent days, protests have been most intense in northwestern Kurdish-majority provinces, with videos coming from Mahabad, Bukan, Piranshahr, and Javanrud in Kermanshah.

Several unverified online videos showed a convoy of heavy armored vehicles reportedly deployed by Iranian authorities in Mahabad, along with gunfire and helicopters.

The IRGC stated it is “strengthening” its soldiers in Iran’s northern areas in response to “armed thugs and separatist terrorists.”

Human rights groups say security forces killed several protesters Sunday night.

Iranian officials deny using live ammunition.

Authorities have not issued an official death toll since the protests began, but more than 50 security forces members have been killed in “riots” and operations by foreign-backed “terrorists.”

Rights groups estimate 400 people, including 60 children, have been slain.

Tehran accuses France, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US of fomenting unrest.

It’s retaliated to Western sanctions with its own.

As Iran’s unrest continues, the foreign media scrutinizes the national football squad as it prepares to face England on Monday.

Iran, England, US, and Wales are in Group B.

Ehsan Hajsafi, the Iranian team’s captain, expressed condolences to families who lost loved ones during a press conference on Sunday.

He began his comments by saying “in the name of the God of rainbows,” a reference to a sentence used in a video by Kian Pirfalak, a 9-year-old boy killed last week in Izeh, Khuzestan.

Pirfalak’s mother blamed security forces at his funeral, but police said motorbike “terrorists” killed him and six others.

Karim Bagheri and Yahya Golmohammadi, two former national team players and current Persepolis staffers, were reprimanded Sunday for supporting the protests on social media.

Bagheri and Golmohammadi were penalized 20% of their salaries.

Sunday’s arrests also included Katayoun Riahi and Hengameh Ghaziani.

In solidarity of the demonstrations, they filmed themselves unveiled.

Iran announced a sixth protest-related death sentence Sunday, stating the accused blocked a major street in Tehran, fought with Basij paramilitary forces, and “terrorized” residents.

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