Iranian Revolutionary Guard Amass on Iraq’s Kurdistan Border

A still image from a video shows an Iranian missile launched towards the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in September 2022. (AFP)
A still image from a video shows an Iranian missile launched towards the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in September 2022. (AFP)
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Iranian Revolutionary Guard Amass on Iraq’s Kurdistan Border

A still image from a video shows an Iranian missile launched towards the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in September 2022. (AFP)
A still image from a video shows an Iranian missile launched towards the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in September 2022. (AFP)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is mobilizing forces along the border area between Iraq and Iran in the Kurdistan Region, suggested information from the Sulaymaniyah province in the Kurdistan Region.

The development comes just three days before the expiration of the deadline set by Tehran for the disarmament of separatist Iranian groups present in the Kurdistan Region.

Iran had recently announced its agreement with Iraq to close down the separatists’ headquarters and disarm them by no later than September 19.

The agreement stipulates the closure of military facilities belonging to the groups in northern Iraq.

A source closely associated with Iranian opposition parties informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has amassed a substantial force along the border strip with the Kurdistan Region.

The move appears to be an effort to exert pressure on both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region to expedite the implementation of the agreement.

According to the source, who requested anonymity, Iraqi border guards have also deployed along the area to enforce the agreement.

The source did not rule out the possibility of the Revolutionary Guard launching attacks within Iraqi territory, whether by missiles or drones, as they have frequently done against anti-Tehran parties in Iraq.

Moreover, the source said it was impossible to predict whether Iranian forces would enter the Iraqi territories, but it was a means to pressure Baghdad to follow through with agreement.

Ghayath Al-Sourji, a leader in the Kurdistan National Union Party, emphasized in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that while the Iranian build-up along the border is evident, it may also be connected to “Iran's domestic affairs.”

Tehran is bracing for the one-year anniversary of the killing of Iranian Kurdish young woman Mahsa Amini by Iranian police, raising the potential for new protests in Kurdish areas within Iran.



WHO Chief Says He Was at Yemen Airport as Israeli Bombs Fell Nearby

FILE: A crater is seen on the tarmac of the international airport of Yemen's capital Sanaa, April 29, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
FILE: A crater is seen on the tarmac of the international airport of Yemen's capital Sanaa, April 29, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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WHO Chief Says He Was at Yemen Airport as Israeli Bombs Fell Nearby

FILE: A crater is seen on the tarmac of the international airport of Yemen's capital Sanaa, April 29, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
FILE: A crater is seen on the tarmac of the international airport of Yemen's capital Sanaa, April 29, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

A wave of Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's main airport Thursday just as the World Health Organization’s director-general said he was about to board a flight there. One of the UN plane’s crew was wounded, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.

The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by Yemen's Houthis at the international airport in the capital Sanaa, as well as power stations and ports, alleging they were used to smuggle in Iranian weapons and for the entry of senior Iranian officials, The AP reported.

UN associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay said the rest of the U.N. team left the airport and are “safe and sound” in Sanaa, and the injured crew member is being treated in a hospital, she said.

Last week, Israeli jets bombed Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people. The US military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days.

Israel's latest wave of strikes in Yemen follows several days of Houthi launches setting off air-raid sirens in Israel. The Houthis have also been targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel's war in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.