The attacks come amid reports that Iranian Kurdish armed groups have consulted with the United States in recent days about whether and how to attack Iranian forces.
Iranian forces have launched an operation targeting Kurdish groups in their semi-autonomous region of neighboring Iraq, while also beginning their 19th wave of missile and drone attacks against Israeli and US assets in the Middle East on the sixth day of a regional war that has drawn much of the region into the conflict.
Iran’s Press TV reported early Thursday that it was targeting “anti-Iran separatist forces,” without specifying the location of the attacks.
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The new attacks on Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region come almost a week after the US-Israel war against Iran, which has killed at least 1,045 people across the country since Saturday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Videos posted on X by Press TV showed explosions lighting up the night sky during the operation.
Multiple explosions had previously been 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 Workers Association, or Komala, an Iranian Kurdish armed group in Iraq.
The attacks come amid reports that Iranian Kurdish armed groups have consulted with the United States 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 the hope of weakening the country’s military.
Earlier, Iran’s Tasnim news agency denied reports that Kurdish fighters had crossed into Iran from Iraq.
Iran counterattacks Israel and the presence of the United States
As attacks were launched against Kurdish groups, 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 defense 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.
Residents flee Tehran
Meanwhile, the United States and Israel continue to attack Iran, with explosions rocking Tehran and the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Saqqez and Bukan.
The Israeli military confirmed a widespread new wave of strikes against Iran on Monday morning, with a spokesman saying 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 its goal was to “eliminate” Iran’s mobile missile launch capabilities.
Iran, in response to the attacks, activated its air defenses, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
“Starting at midnight, we saw another wave of these attacks begin, and an hour ago we heard the sound of massive explosions in the eastern part of the capital and could even feel the shock waves where we are,” said Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran.
“It is still unclear what the targets are. There have also been attacks on the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Saqqez and Bukan overnight. We know that in total, more than 150 cities in Iran have been attacked since Saturday.”
Asadi said that “a considerable portion” of Tehran’s population has decided to evacuate Tehran amid continued US and Israeli attacks, mainly those who have homes outside the Iranian capital.
“Still, there are many others who have been left behind. They live in the midst of all these worries, frustrations and anxiety.”
