ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Saturday it dismantled multiple “Kurdish separatist groups” and “counter-revolutionary” cells allegedly preparing the ground for a military attack from the country’s western borders, a news outlet reported.
In a statement released by IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency, “several teams affiliated with counter-revolutionary groups - supported by the US and the Zionist regime" were identified and dismantled, adding that the groups "were seeking to prepare the grounds for an enemy military attack from the west of the country."
The announcement comes against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran after Washington and Tel Aviv launched a preemptive air campaign against the Islamic republic on February 28, targeting more than 17,000 sites over six weeks before a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire was reached on April 8.
Tehran responded with thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets and Israel. Despite the truce, Iranian and Iran-aligned groups have continued attacks on Kurdish opposition bases in the Kurdistan Region.
At least 11 people have been killed in these attacks, including five since the ceasefire took effect, according to a statement by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani last week.
In Kurdistan province, the IRGC said its intelligence carried out “complex intelligence operations” that led to “the dismantling of several organizational cells belonging to Kurdish separatist groups, the arrest of 11 individuals, the elimination of one person, and the seizure of 8 RPG launchers along with more than 2,000 pieces of related ammunition.