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Iran Guards Threaten to Attack Opposition Positions in Iraqi Kurdistan

Head of Iran’s Revolutionary guards ground forces Mohammad Pakpour (C) attends a funeral ceremony in Tehran October 20, 2009. (Reuters)
Head of Iran’s Revolutionary guards ground forces Mohammad Pakpour (C) attends a funeral ceremony in Tehran October 20, 2009. (Reuters)
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Iran Guards Threaten to Attack Opposition Positions in Iraqi Kurdistan

Head of Iran’s Revolutionary guards ground forces Mohammad Pakpour (C) attends a funeral ceremony in Tehran October 20, 2009. (Reuters)
Head of Iran’s Revolutionary guards ground forces Mohammad Pakpour (C) attends a funeral ceremony in Tehran October 20, 2009. (Reuters)

The commander of the ground forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards threatened to bombard the positions of the Kurdish opposition in Iraqi Kurdistan, warning the residents of the northern region not to approach the bases of the anti-Tehran parties.

Iranian commander, General Mohammad Pakpour, was speaking on Monday, shortly after his arrival at the bases of the IRGC forces in the border triangle between Iran, Turkey and the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Fars news agency reported that Pakpour’s tour came amid new movements of “armed terrorist groups” in the region - a reference to Kurdish opposition factions deployed in the border areas.

He noted that previous warnings were sent to officials in the Kurdistan region about the growing activity of Kurdish armed factions in western Iran.

Pakpour described the Kurdish opposition as “terrorist and counter-revolutionary groups,” saying: “They threaten stability and calm in the border areas, and cause harm to the people.”

“We have issued the required warnings to the Iraqi government and regional officials in the north of this country,” he added.

He stressed that the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan region “should not allow terrorists to roam and set up headquarters on their lands, and cause a security threat to Iran.”

“Any negligence in this regard contradicts the principles of good neighborliness and friendly relations between the two countries,” he remarked.

Pakpour spoke of “the possibility of a decisive and shocking response” against the Kurdish parties “given the conditions of the region.” He advised the residents of that area to stay away from the headquarters of the Kurdish parties to avoid being harmed.

Secretary-General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, had called on the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fouad Hussein, to expel the opposition Kurdish parties from the Kurdistan region.

“We will deal strongly with any group or movement that wants to misuse Iraqi lands, in any way, to threaten Iran’s security,” Shamkhani said.

The warning came about two weeks after the region’s Ministry of Interior requested the Kurdish opposition parties from neighboring countries to “abstain from using the territory of the Kurdistan region as a base for their operations and to spare the area a regional conflict.”

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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Denmark's prime minister has told the US during a visit to Greenland that “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said on Friday that Washington will respect Greenland's self-determination and Copenhagen “should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was wrapping up a three-day visit to the strategically critical Arctic island on Friday as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.

A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.

Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland's incoming and outgoing leaders on board a Danish naval ship. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.

Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”

“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.

“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”

“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.

The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”

Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump's designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.

In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”

He said Trump's point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we're going to protect America's interests come hell or high water.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was attending a meeting in Brussels with his NATO counterparts, wrote on social network X that he had an “honest and direct” meeting Thursday with Rubio.

“I made it crystal clear that claims and statements about annexing Greenland are not only unacceptable and disrespectful,” Løkke Rasmussen wrote. “They amount to a violation of international law.”

Rubio told reporters in Brussels Friday that “no one's annexed anything.” He added that Vance has made clear that “he's going to respect the self-determination of Greenlanders.”

“Denmark should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark," Rubio said.

“We didn’t give them that idea. They’ve been talking about that for a long time,” he said. "Whenever they make that decision, they’ll make that decision.”

“If they make that decision, then the United States would stand ready, potentially, to step in and say, okay, we can create a partnership with you," Rubio said, adding that "we’re not at that stage.”