Iran on March 5 said it targeted Kurdish groups in Iraq, warning "separatist groups" against action in the widening war after several media outlets reported that United States was looking to arm Kurdish guerillas to infiltrate Iran to spark an uprising against the regime.
Tehran said it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups "opposed to the revolution.
The strikes killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative.
"Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action," said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
"We will not tolerate them in any way."
Earlier, heavy explosions were reported in the village of Zirgwez near Sulaymaniyah, where Iranian Kurdish opposition groups are based.
According to media reports, four explosions were heard in the area where members of the groups live with their families.
Asked about reports that the Trump administration was considering arming Iranian Kurdish groups, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on March 4:,“None of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force.”
“So, what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.”
Some outlets also said that Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran.
Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Freedom Party, or PAK, based in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, said Wednesday that some of their forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and were on standby.
An official with Komala, another of the Kurdish Iranian groups, said that their forces are ready to cross the border within a week to 10 days and were “waiting for the grounds to be suitable.”
