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Iran launched an attack on Iraq on Wednesday amid massive anti-regime protests at home.EPA photo
September 28 (UPI) – Iran launched a barrage of drone and missile strikes on Wednesday against an Iranian-Kurdish opposition group in Iraq, U.S. and Kurdish officials said.
Brig. Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, General Mohammad Pakpur, said Wednesday’s attack included 73 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and dozens of drones and targeted 42 locations, some 250 miles apart, Iranian officials said. . islamic republic news agency report.
Hengaw Human Rights, an independent human rights organization in Kurdistan, Say The strike killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more.
The attack came amid massive anti-regime protests in the country, Iranian officials say Outraged by the Kurdish opposition.
U.S. Central Command said it shot down an Iranian drone that was heading towards its forces in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdistan capital, at around 2:10 p.m. local time.
“U.S. Central Command condemns Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps‘This morning there was an unprovoked attack in Iraq’s Erbil province,’ it said in a statement“Such indiscriminate attacks threaten innocent civilians and endanger the hard-won stability in the region.”
No U.S. military personnel were injured or killed, U.S. Central Command said.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan also strongly condemned the attack, saying Tehran cannot continue to deflect blame for its internal problems and “legitimate dissatisfaction among the people” by attacking neighboring countries.
“Iran’s leadership continues to blatantly disregard the lives of its own people, the lives of its neighbors and the core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity enshrined in the UN Charter,” he said. a statement.
“The United States will continue to seek sanctions and other means to destabilize Iran’s destabilizing activities throughout the Middle East.”
The Kurdistan Regional Government also issued a statement Condemned the attack while calling on Iran to stop provocation.
“By attacking opposition groups with missiles by the Islamic Republic of Iran, pretexts and pretexts are incorrect positions and it contributes to a misleading interpretation of the course of events,” it said. “We strongly condemn these continued attacks.”
At the same time, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Anthony Guterres UN Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephen Dujarric calls for immediate de-escalation while urging Iran to respect Iraqi sovereignty Say.
The attacks came as Iran faced massive anti-regime protests that began after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16.
Amini, a Kurdish minority, was arrested in Tehran on September 13 by the country’s guided patrol on charges of violating the country’s strict laws on wearing hijabs. Shortly after his arrest, Amini fell into a coma.
The guide patrol was charged with assaulting Amini, a charge the authorities rejected.
The protests have spread across the country and have been violently suppressed by the authorities, resulting in death at least 76 peopleAmong them were six women and four children, according to the Oslo-based Iranian human rights group.
Wednesday’s attack comes after Iran launched a similar offensive on Monday against what they believe to be terrorists in Iraq.
Iranian officials have accused the Kurdish opposition of participating in the destabilizing protests.
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