US National Security Advisor Condemns Iranian Attacks on Kurdish Areas in Iraq

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks to the media during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 September 2022. (EPA)
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks to the media during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 September 2022. (EPA)
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US National Security Advisor Condemns Iranian Attacks on Kurdish Areas in Iraq

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks to the media during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 September 2022. (EPA)
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks to the media during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 September 2022. (EPA)

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday condemned Iranian missile and drone strikes on Kurdish areas in Iraq and said Washington will continue to pursue sanctions and other means to disrupt Tehran's "destabilizing" activities.

"Iran cannot deflect blame from its internal problems and the legitimate grievances of its population with attacks across its borders," Sullivan said in a statement, condemning Tehran's "flagrant use of missiles and drones against its neighbors."

An Iranian drone bombing campaign targeting the bases of an Iranian-Kurdish opposition group in northern Iraq on Wednesday killed at least nine people and wounded 32 others, the Kurdish Regional Government’s Health Ministry said.

The strikes took place as demonstrations continued to engulf the country after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who was detained by the Iranian morality police.

Iran’s attacks targeted Koya, some 65 kilometers (35 miles) east of Irbil, said Soran Nuri, a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. The group, known by the acronym KDPI, is a leftist armed opposition force banned in Iran.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government have condemned the strikes.

On Saturday and Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard unleashed a wave of drone and artillery strikes targeting Kurdish positions.

The US Department of State called the Iranian attacks an "unjustified violation of Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"We are also aware of reports of civilian casualties and deplore any loss of life caused by today’s attacks," said spokesperson Ned Price in a statement. "Moreover, we further condemn comments from the government of Iran threatening additional attacks against Iraq."



US Issues Fresh Iran Sanctions over Human Rights Violations

Women walk on a market street in Tehran on September 15, 2024, on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Women walk on a market street in Tehran on September 15, 2024, on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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US Issues Fresh Iran Sanctions over Human Rights Violations

Women walk on a market street in Tehran on September 15, 2024, on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Women walk on a market street in Tehran on September 15, 2024, on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

The United States issued a new round of Iran sanctions on Wednesday targeting 12 individuals who it said were tied to Tehran's "ongoing, violent repression of the Iranian people," including its "brutal crackdown on peaceful protests."
The sanctions, which come two years after the death of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amin in police custody, target members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian prison officials "and those responsible for lethal operations overseas," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
The Treasury Department said Iran's security forces, including the IRGC and its Basij paramilitary force, had led a crackdown on peaceful protests in cities all over Iran.
IRGC units had used lethal force against protesters, arrested people for political expression, and attempted to intimidate the Iranian people through violence, it said.