Statement by the Cooperation Center of the Iranian Kurdistan’s Political Parties
On the night of March 12, 2022, city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region was extensively attacked by the self-guided ballistic missile of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards resulting in damages to the civilian neighbourhoods.
This is not the first time that Kurdistan was the target of the Iranian Regime’s missile attacks. In September 2018, the headquarters of the Democratic Party were attacked by the Iranian Regime’s missiles. In this Iranian missile attack, 16 Peshmergas and party members died, and dozens were severely injured. At the time, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that they had targeted the center of conspiracy against the security of the Islamic Republic, and now, while formally taking responsibility for the attacks, in a statement, they justified this attack with the presence of a so-called Israeli intelligence center on the territory of the Kurdistan Region.
The office of Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government strongly condemned the hostile attack and stated that the Iranian accusations are false, and the targeted areas were civilian residence, and these accusations are only pretext for their detestable crime. “Iran repeats these attacks many times, and the silence of the international community against these cowardly attacks will pave the way for the continuation of such crimes,” the KRG’s Council of Ministers stated.
The Iranian Islamic regime has proven that does not respect the international laws and regulations and has been violating the Iraq’s political sovereignty for many years. This regime not only openly interferes in the Iraq’s internal affairs but also seeks any opportunity to create chaos to a point that on many occasions Iraqi citizens have publicly protested Iran’s interference and believe that Iran is the source of their problems and crises.
The regime’s interference in Kurdistan’s internal affairs in the past few decades began with the terror of the political activists of the Eastern Kurdistan. During that period, hundreds of Kurdish political activists from eastern Kurdistan were assassinated in Iraq and in the Kurdistan Region. The missiles attack on the KDP’s Central Committee Plenum, and on bases of Iranian Kurdistan’s political parties was the start of these waves of missile attacks. At the time of the September 08, 2018, attack, the political parties, and the opposition groups called on the United Nations and international community to condemn these criminal acts and set a limit for the Iranian Regime. Unfortunately, these calls were not taken seriously and as a result the Iranian regime proudly takes responsibility for its terror attacks and will continue so.
The Cooperation Center of the Iranian Kurdistan’s Political Parties condemns the Iranian missile attack on Erbil, and calls on all states, the UN Security Council, and international community to break silence against the Iranian regime’s criminal behavior. We ask to stand firm and take actions to stop the Iranian regime to further destabilize the security of Iraq, and Kurdistan Region. Don’t let Iran to add Iraq to the list of chaotic countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
The Cooperation Center of the Iranian Kurdistan’s Political Parties