Iran launches attack on Kurdistan region of Iraq in latest strike on Kurdish groups

A day after Iran’s president gave a speech at the UN General Assembly in which Iran said it would not bend the knee to the US, Iran carried out a new attack on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.

Iran has targeted the region with more than 1,000 drone and missile attacks since February. It has sought to strike at Kurdish dissident groups as well as US diplomatic facilities and other sites.

The goal of Iran is to deter Kurdish groups and also send a message that it can strike where it wants.

The local Kurdish Rudaw Media Network reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had fired three drones at a village near Soran in the Erbil province in the early hours of Thursday, wounding one Peshmerga.

The report also noted that the attack, which was launched against a location belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) on the outskirts of Soran, came hours after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held indirect talks with US negotiators about a possible end to the war.

It is clear that Iran is sending a message that it will continue its attacks even amid negotiations. Iran may even continue the attacks if there is a deal.

Kurds vote for independence in northern Iraq

Iran believes it has a right to carry the war into Iraq and spread terror in the Kurdistan Region. The attacks have also happened a day after the anniversary of an independence referendum in the region in 2017.

In 2017, Kurds went to the polls in northern Iraq and voted for independence. This led to an attack by Iraq on Kirkuk and Iranian-backed militias attacking Kurds.

Rudaw says that a source told them that three drones targeted a location in the village of Dilizian at around 2 a.m. on Thursday, adding that the drones were fired from the Iranian side near the Haji Omaran border crossing.

Meanwhile, the KDPI confirmed that one of its sites had been targeted near Soran.  The attack also follows an announcement that the Kurdish Peshmerga, the armed forces of the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, have been unified.

The Kurds want closer security work with Baghdad, and they want air defenses. The problem is that Iran has shown that it continues to influence Iraq and has a free hand in attacks. The attack on September 24 is clearly part of the Iranian message.