‘Iran to counter cross-border attacks’

Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danaeifar says the Islamic Republic reserves the right to defend its territory in the event of cross-border attacks by terrorists from Iraq.

“Iran reserves the legal right to take defensive measures against military attacks launched against its civilian targets from the Iraqi soil,” Danaeifar told ISNA Saturday.

His remarks came in response to comments by Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari who called on Iran to stop operations against members of the Party of Free Life for Kurdistan (PJAK).

Danaeifar said that Iran has sent a note to Iraq, warning against the terrorist attacks on its civilian targets from Iraqi soil. The Iraqi government, however, has yet to respond, he added.

He said that Iran will take prompt measures to defend its territory.

Iran has recently deployed 5,000 military forces in the northwest of the country along its common border with the Iraqi Kurdistan region to fight counterrevolutionary groups.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has engaged in clashes with PJAK members in the country’s northwest, killing several members of the terrorist group.

The IRGC has taken control of the terrorist group’s bases in the heights of the city of Sardasht, and the attack on PJAK positions in the border areas of Iraqi Kurdistan is ongoing.

PJAK is an offshoot of the internationally-recognized terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which conducts deadly operations in western Iran, northern Iraq and southern Turkey.