Tensions in Iran Spill Across the Border Into Iraq

Tensions in Iran Spill Across the Border Into Iraq

NewYork Times

Sept. 28, 2022Updated 5:12 p.m. ET

Nine people were killed and at least 32 others, including children, were injured in semiautonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq on Wednesday after Iranian forces bombarded the region for the fifth straight day, the Iraqi News Agency reported, citing the regional health ministry.

As security forces in Iran have moved to curb protests that have embroiled cities across the country for more than a week, the repercussions are being felt in neighboring Iraq, where Tehran has been waging a brutal attack on Kurdish opposition groups.

The drone and missile strikes targeted offices and paramilitary bases of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraqi Kurdistan, including in the cities of Erbil, Sulaimaniya and Pirde, Kurdish officials and rights groups said.

They were the latest in a string of attacks on the region since Saturday, after Tehran accused Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq of fomenting some of the demonstrations that have overtaken Iran for 12 days.

Those protests were set off after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, on Sept. 16. Ms. Amini had been detained over claims that she had violated Iran’s head scarf law, which mandates the covering of hair for adult women.

The demonstrations quickly expanded to dozens of cities in Iran and have evolved into the most widespread challenge to the country’s authoritarian government since 2009, bringing a brutal crackdown from security forces.

The authorities in Iran said on Monday that 41 protesters had been killed and more than 1,200 arrested. Human rights groups said that the toll was much higher but that was difficult to pinpoint as the government has restricted cellphone and internet service. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for the release of more than 23 journalists it said had been detained since the start of the protests.

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran gave a live televised interview to state television on Wednesday, calling the demonstrations sedition orchestrated by Iran’s foreign enemies who want to sow division among the public and the government. He said they were threatening the safety of the public and security forces. “For the Islamic Republic, the red line is protecting the lives and properties of the public,” Mr. Raisi said. “The roots of the Islamic Republic are very strong.”