A Kurdish party opposed to the regime is warning that a buildup of Iranian forces will be used as a “pretext” for attack, while Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and allied paramilitaries have acknowledged troop mobilizations.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed a crowd of Basiji auxiliary forces at Azadi Stadium in Tehran on Thursday, state-run IRNA news reported.

Brig. Gen. Gholamhossein Gharib Parvar, the head of Basij, said on Wednesday 150,000 of his paramilitaries are taking part in maneuvers to show their dedication to serve.

“Iran has deployed tens of thousands of IRGC and Basiji terrorists to Kurdistan for a large military exercise that will last a week,” tweeted the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) on Wednesday.

The PDKI is based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq but regularly clashes with IRGC members in the mountainous region that borders Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat).

“However this so-called exercise could be used as a pretext to attack Kurdish political parties,” added PDKI.

Iranian leadership blames an attack on a military parade on September 22 in the southwestern city of Ahvaz to commemorate the 1979 Islamic Revolution on the United States, Israel, and Arab states in the Persian Gulf.

The attack was claimed by Al-Ahwaziya, an Iranian Arab separatist group and then by ISIS media.

The Iranian regime repeatedly claims Kurdish opposition parties like the PDKI, Komala, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-I) have the support of Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States. They have all denied supporting those groups.

Iran retaliated for the Ahvaz attack that it says killed 25 people and wounded 69 more by firing six Qiam-type ballistic missiles 570 kilometers from its Kermanshah province at alleged ISIS positions near Al Boukamal in Syria on the border with Iran.

However, that was not enough for officials in Tehran.

Iranian Army commander Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi said the incident was a “red line,” according the semi-official Tasnim news agency. He vowed harsher actions.

“In the face of any blow, we will deal a stronger and heavier blow to the opposing side,” Mousavi said on Wednesday.

“We stand up for this grandeur and security till the end,” he added. “Our enemies should have received the message of the Islamic Republic by now.”

Kurdish opposition groups have fought for greater minority, cultural, and political rights for all of Iran’s people. Their struggle predated the Islamic Revolution.

Iranian missiles killed 17 people in Koya, Kurdistan Region, on September 8. Forty-six others were injured including women near a joint coordination center for the Iranian Kurdish parties in opposition to the regime. The casualties included top party leaders.

Source » kurdistan24