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Kurdistan Democratic Party Accuses Tehran of Killing 2 of its Members in Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)
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Kurdistan Democratic Party Accuses Tehran of Killing 2 of its Members in Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraqi Kurdistan, after an IRGC attack on the outskirts of Kirkuk, September 28, 2022 (Reuters)

The Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party has announced that two of its members in the Kurdistan region of Iraq were killed by a group loyal to Iran.

In a statement, the party said on Friday that a premeditated attack was carried out by the group in the south of the region, targeting a number of party members and leaving Adel Muhajir and Luqman Aji dead.

The party condemned the attack and called on the Iraqi government and the regional government to “take a firm stand against the terrorist acts committed by Iran.”

However, the statement did not mention the name of the group that carried out the operation.

Last year, Iran launched several attacks inside Iraqi territory in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, using ballistic missiles and drones and targeting what it said were Kurdish groups accused of being involved in protests.

In one of the operations, Iran said it was targeting an oil trader suspected of transporting Kurdistan region’s oil to Israel and running armed groups attacking facilities in Iran.

Iran accuses the Iraqi Kurdistan region of harboring opposition movements and groups, such as the Kurdish (Komala) movement and elements of the People’s Mujahedin Organization.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Body in Iraq announced on Friday that five ISIS members were killed in a security operation carried out by its forces in Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad.

At the end of 2017, Iraq announced the elimination of ISIS from the country, but the organization remains active in some areas.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.