Iran said Thursday it had attacked Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan to prevent them from launching an ᴀssault on its western borders, amid reports that such an attack was coming or had even begun.
The Iranian claim came as Kurdish officials told The ᴀssociated Press and The Washington Post that US President Donald Trump had personally spoken to their leaders in recent days and requested their ᴀssistance in the campaign. AP reported that Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq were preparing for a potential cross-border military operation, and that the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them.
Iran’s intelligence ministry said the country targeted posts of “separatist groups” that intended to enter through western borders, adding that they had sustained heavy losses.
The ministry statement, carried by state media, said Iranian forces were cooperating with “noble Kurds” to thwart the “Israeli-American” plan to attack Iranian soil.
