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.



Khamenei Avoids Commenting on Trump’s Victory

Khamenei Avoids Commenting on Trump’s Victory
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Khamenei Avoids Commenting on Trump’s Victory

Khamenei Avoids Commenting on Trump’s Victory

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei avoided commenting on Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election or issuing a response to Israel. Instead, he stated that the “various forms of jihad continuing strongly today in Lebanon and Palestine will inevitably lead to the victory of the Resistance Front.”

Khamenei remarked that the Axis of Resistance remains “strong despite the deaths of many top leaders within these groups,” alluding to figures such as Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, his deputy Hashem Safieddine, as well as Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas, his successor Yahya Sinwar, and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in Beirut in September.

Khamenei’s official website quoted him addressing members of the Assembly of Experts after their semi-annual meeting, stating: “Some people, assuming that Hezbollah has weakened, have begun criticizing Hezbollah’s actions both within Lebanon and elsewhere.”

He added: “They are mistaken and lost in illusion.”

The Iranian leader also criticized the United States and several European countries for what he described as “their role in the crimes in Gaza and Lebanon.”

However, he steered clear of discussing the results of the US election. Meanwhile, Iranian media recirculated a video clip from early 2021, shortly after Joe Biden’s election victory and just days before the first anniversary of General Qassem Soleimani’s death, in which Khamenei commented that Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “have been consigned to the garbage heap of history.”

Khamenei made no mention of Iran’s recent threats of retaliation against Israel. Previously, on Saturday, he had pledged a “harsh response” to Israeli strikes on military sites, including missile facilities and radar systems.

In part of his speech, Khamenei discussed Hezbollah’s growing capabilities, asserting: “Hezbollah is strong and will inflict a clear defeat on the Zionist entity.”

He continued: “Based on Hezbollah’s and Hamas’ past experiences in conflict, recent events will undoubtedly lead to victory for the front of truth and resistance.”

“Hezbollah has developed remarkably, to the point that the enemy, despite being equipped with all types of physical, propaganda, and economic weaponry, has not been able to defeat it—and will not be able to,” Khamenei further statet.

He concluded that Israel’s goal in the war is “to eliminate Hamas, but despite committing massacres that have claimed tens of thousands of lives and killing Hamas leaders, they have not achieved this goal.”