Iranian Kurdish Leader Signals Potential Cross-Border Operation into Iran

Babasheikh Hosseini, the secretary-general of the Khabat Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan, has indicated a strong probability of launching a cross-border ground operation into Iran. Speaking from the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Hosseini stated that while no operation is currently underway, the group has been planning for a long time and now considers conditions more favorable for action. He noted that the United States has made contact through various channels, though no direct meetings have occurred to date.

"We have been planning for a long time, and now that conditions are more favorable, there is a strong probability of action," Hosseini told Al Jazeera.

In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Saturday that it had targeted positions of separatist groups in the Kurdish region. The IRGC stated that three locations were hit and warned that any move against Iran's territorial integrity would be met with force.

"If separatist groups in the region make any move against Iran's territorial integrity, we will crush them," the IRGC said in a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency.

The Iraqi government and the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government have emphasized that Iraqi territory must not be used as a launching point for attacks against neighboring countries. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Kurdistan's regional president Nechirvan Barzani agreed that Iraq should not serve as a base for such operations.

"Iraqi territory must not be used as a launching point for attacks against neighboring countries," the premier's media office stated.

This development comes amid heightened tensions in the region, with Iran conducting strikes on Kurdish positions in Iraq and issuing warnings against exiled Kurdish Iranian fighters entering Iran. The situation underscores the complex dynamics involving Kurdish groups, regional governments, and international actors in the Middle East.