Israel-Iran War: Israel Launches New Strikes on Tehran, Targets IRGC Military Sites

Israel-Iran War: Israel Launches New Strikes on Tehran, Targets IRGC Military Sites
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has warned that European Union countries will “pay the price, sooner ⁠or later” if ⁠they remain silent over US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Iranian forces have launched an operation against Kurdish groups in their semi-autonomous region of neighbouring Iraq, as Iran also began its 19th wave of missile and drone attacks against Israel and US assets in the Middle East.

Iran’s ⁠Intelligence ⁠Ministry confirmed that it attacked posts ⁠of “separatist groups” who intended to enter through ⁠western borders, adding that they sustained heavy losses.

The Iranian ministry ⁠statement, which ⁠was carried by state media, said Iranian forces are cooperating ‌with “noble Kurds” to thwart the “Israeli-American” plan to attack ‌Iranian ‌soil.

ation targeting Kurdish groups in their semi-autonomous region of neighbouring Iraq, as they also began their 19th wave of missile and drone attacks against Israel and United States assets in the Middle East on the sixth day of a regional war that has embroiled much of the region in the conflict.

Iran’s Press TV reported early on Thursday that the military was targeting “anti-Iran separatist forces”, without specifying the location of the strikes.

Iran’s ⁠intelligence ⁠ministry confirmed that it targeted posts ⁠of “separatist groups” who intended to enter through ⁠western borders, adding that they sustained heavy losses. The Iranian ministry ⁠statement, which ⁠was carried by state media, said Iranian forces are cooperating ‌with “noble Kurds” to thwart the “Israeli-American” plan to attack ‌Iranian ‌soil.

The new strikes on Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region come nearly one week into the US-Israel war against Iran, which has killed at least 1,045 people across the country since Saturday, according to Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency.

Video clips posted on X by Press TV showed explosions lighting up the night sky during the operation.

Earlier, multiple blasts were reported in the province of Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq. According to local media, at least four explosions were heard in the province, near the areas of Arabat, Zarkuiz and Surdash.

Local sources said the attacks targeted the headquarters of the Kurdistan Toilers Association, or Komala, an Iranian Kurdish armed group in Iraq

The attacks come amid reports that Iranian Kurdish armed groups have consulted with the US in recent days about whether, and how, to attack Iran’s security forces in the western part of the country and what support they might receive from Washington.

According to the Reuters news agency, the Iranian Kurdish coalition of groups based on the ‌Iran-Iraq border has been training to mount such an attack in hopes of weakening the country’s military.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional government on Thursday denied involvement in any plans to arm Kurdish groups and send them into Iran.

Nechirvan Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, said it “must not become part of any conflict or military escalation that harms the lives and security of our fellow citizens”.

“Protecting the territorial integrity of the Kurdistan Region and our constitutional achievements can only be achieved through the unity, cohesion, and shared national responsibility of all political forces and components in Kurdistan,” he added.

In a statement cited by Reuters news agency, the spokesperson for Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional government said it had no part in any effort to further expand the ongoing war or inflame regional tensions

As the attacks on Kurdish groups were launched, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also announced the latest round of attacks against Israel and US assets in the Middle East early on Thursday.

Israel’s air defence system intercepted two drones over the western Galilee region, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted at least three drones, while Qatar ordered the evacuation of homes near the US Embassy in Doha.

and security of our fellow citizens”.

“Protecting the territorial integrity of the Kurdistan Region and our constitutional achievements can only be achieved through the unity, cohesion, and shared national responsibility of all political forces and components in Kurdistan,” he added.

In a statement cited by Reuters news agency, the spokesperson for Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional government said it had no part in any effort to further expand the ongoing war or inflame regional tensions.

Iran hits back at Israel, US presence
As the attacks on Kurdish groups were launched, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also announced the latest round of attacks against Israel and US assets in the Middle East early on Thursday.

Israel’s air defence system intercepted two drones over the western Galilee region, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted at least three drones, while Qatar ordered the evacuation of homes near the US Embassy in Doha.

Meanwhile, the US and Israel continue to pound Iran, with explosions shaking Tehran as well as the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Saqqez and Bukan

The Israeli military, on Monday morning, confirmed a new widespread wave of attacks on Iran, with a spokesperson stating that its air force “attacked and destroyed” a ballistic missile platform that had been preparing to launch an attack from the Iranian city of Qom.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM), in turn, said it aimed to “eliminate” Iran’s mobile missile launch capabilities.

Iran, in response to the attacks, has activated its air defences, the semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported.

“Starting from midnight, we saw another wave of these strikes begin, and an hour ago, we heard the sound of massive blasts from the eastern part of the capital and could even feel the shockwaves where we are,” said Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran.