Iran: 20 Killed in Clashes Between IRGC, Kurdish Group

Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)
Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)
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Iran: 20 Killed in Clashes Between IRGC, Kurdish Group

Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)
Soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) parade in Tehran. (AFP)

At least 20 people were killed in armed clashes between Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a Kurdish group opposed to the Iranian regime on the border between Iran, Turkey and the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Reports varied concerning the reason for the clashes and number of losses between both sides. IRGC’s news agency Fars reported that the clashes were against a group that planned to enter the country through the bordering region of Oshnavieh (in Kurdistan province). Whereas, state-owned agency IRNA cited IRGC’s Hamzeh base saying that the Iranian forces dismantled an armed cell in the southwestern Iranian province of Azerbaijan.

IRGC killed 10 armed men carrying equipment in the Oshnavieh border area as they attempted to enter Iran, according to IRNA.

The corps issued a statement confirming the incident, but did not mention the identity of the armed group, rather described it as “affiliated to the world arrogant powers and the foreign intelligence services” that planned to enter the country to “foment insecurity and conduct acts of sabotage”.

Reports by official Iranian agencies did not mention the number of casualties among the IRGC, but operation assistant at Hamzeh base denied in a statement to Fars the reports saying that none of the troops was injured or killed in the fighting.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) announced on its Twitter account that heavy clashes erupted between Kurdistan’s Peshmerga Forces and Iran’s IRGC outside Shno (Oshnavie) in eastern Kurdistan. “The clash lasted for 5 hours and according to initial reports 12 IRGC terrorists were killed,” it added.

The Party did not comment on official Iranian reports about the killing of its members.

Hamzeh base is responsible for securing Iran's border with Turkey and the Kurdistan region of Iraq, extending 200 kilometers from the western province of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah to northern areas of the western province of Ilam.

PDKI was founded in October 1945 by Kurdish leader Qadi Mohammad in the city of Mahabad, raising the slogan "Autonomy of Kurdistan of Iran" and the right to self-determination.

Iran targeted party leaders twice after the 1979 revolution: the first in June 1989, when gunmen attacked Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and several Kurdish politicians in Vienna. Few years later, on Sept. 17, 1992, gunmen posing as negotiators killed Sadegh Sharafkandi, the party's secretary-general, and a number of party leaders at a restaurant in Berlin.



Trump Says it Might Be Better to Let Ukraine and Russia 'Fight for a While'

05 June 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump (R) meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa Pool/dpa
05 June 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump (R) meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa Pool/dpa
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Trump Says it Might Be Better to Let Ukraine and Russia 'Fight for a While'

05 June 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump (R) meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa Pool/dpa
05 June 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump (R) meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa Pool/dpa

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.

In an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump likened the war in Ukraine — which Russia invaded in early 2022 — to a fight between two young children who hated each other.

“Sometimes you’re better off letting them a fight for a while and then pulling them apart," Trump said. He added that he had relayed that analogy to Russian President Vladimir Putin in their phone conversation on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

Asked about Trump's comments as the two leaders sat next to each other, Merz stressed that both he and Trump agreed “on this war and how terrible this war is going on,” pointing to the US president as the “key person in the world” who would be able to stop the bloodshed.

But Merz also emphasized that Germany “was on the side of Ukraine” and that Kyiv was only attacking military targets, not Russian civilians.

“We are trying to get them stronger,” Merz said of Ukraine.

Thursday's meeting marked the first time that the two leaders sat down in person. After exchanging pleasantries — Merz gave Trump a gold-framed birth certificate of the US president's grandfather Friedrich Trump, who immigrated from Germany — the two leaders were to discuss issues such as Ukraine, trade and NATO spending.

Trump and Merz have spoken several times by phone, either bilaterally or with other European leaders, since Merz took office on May 6. German officials say the two leaders have started to build a “decent” relationship, with Merz wanting to avoid the antagonism that defined Trump's relationship with one of his predecessors, Angela Merkel, in the Republican president's first term.

The 69-year-old Merz — who came to office with an extensive business background — is a conservative former rival of Merkel's who took over her party after she retired from politics.

A White House official said topics that Trump is likely to raise with Merz include Germany’s defense spending, trade, Ukraine and what the official called “democratic backsliding," saying the administration's view is that shared values such as freedom of speech have deteriorated in Germany and the country should reverse course. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the discussions.

But Merz told reporters Thursday morning that if Trump wanted to talk German domestic politics, he was ready to do that but he also stressed Germany holds back when it comes to American domestic politics.