Iraq Condemns Iran’s Violation of its Sovereignty

Members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) check the damage after a rocket attack inside their headquarters in Koysinjaq. (AFP)
Members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) check the damage after a rocket attack inside their headquarters in Koysinjaq. (AFP)
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Iraq Condemns Iran’s Violation of its Sovereignty

Members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) check the damage after a rocket attack inside their headquarters in Koysinjaq. (AFP)
Members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) check the damage after a rocket attack inside their headquarters in Koysinjaq. (AFP)

Baghdad on Sunday condemned Iran’s attack against the Kurdistan Region’s town of Koya as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

“The Ministry affirms Iraq’s keenness on the security of its neighbors and its refusal to allow its territory to be used to threaten the security of those countries,” Ahmed Mahjoub, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.

He added that Iraq “categorically rejects” the violation of its sovereignty via bombings “without prior coordination with the Iraqi authorities, to spare civilians of the effects of such operations.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards boasted earlier that it had launched the missiles.

On Saturday, at least 14 Kurds were killed after Tehran launched seven missile strikes on bases of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in the province of Koya.

Koya, also known as Koysinjaq, is located in the eastern Erbil province.

The party had said Sunday that a drone was flying above the PDKI’s headquarter where a meeting was taking place before it was attacked by Katyusha missiles.

“The attack was carried out using seven Fateh-110 type short-range surface-to-surface missiles,” an IRGC statement said, without disclosing the location they were launched from.

The IRGC asserted that opposition groups have led to “widespread insecurity” in Rojhilati provinces and have deprived locals of “safety and peace.”

Later, Iran’s news agency Tasnim broadcast footage of the attack.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Iran's armed forces on Sunday to increase their power to "scare off" the enemy.

“Increase your power as much as you can, because your power scares off the enemy and forces it to retreat," his official website quoted him as saying at a graduation ceremony for cadets of Iran's regular armed forces.



Iran's Supreme Leader: Militant Groups Against Israel Remain Strong

02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT

Iran's Supreme Leader: Militant Groups Against Israel Remain Strong

02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
02 November 2024, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with school and university students in Tehran. Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Thursday the alliance of militant groups opposed to Israel remains strong despite the killing of many of their senior leaders.

“God willing, the world will see a day when the Zionist regime will be defeated by them,” Iranian state TV reported Khamenei as saying.

Khamenei said Hamas and other “leaders of the resistance” are “still fighting” even though some of their leaders have been killed by intensified Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli strikes and military operations in recent months have killed the top leaders of both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as many of their senior commanders.

Both groups are part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes other Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iran and its allies have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the United States over the past year following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, raising fears of a regional war.