Pro-regime media in Iran published an
article over the weekend saying that Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq has denied
claims that Iran sought to invade northern Iraq.
The controversy relates to attacks by
Iran against Kurdish dissident groups. In September and November last year, in
an effort to target Kurdish groups who Iran accused of being behind women’s
rights protests in Iran, the Tehran regime used drones and rockets to attack
Kurdish dissidents.
Iran taking a step back
At the time Iran appeared on the verge
of an invasion of northern Iraq that could have struck at Koya, areas near
Sulimaniyeh and other sites. Now Iran is walking back its threats.
The report at Tasnim News said that
Iran was accused of seeking to “invade” Iraq, but that this is incorrect. “Such
news is fundamentally false and Iran has never thought of attacking and
invading the territory of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and recently there was
an understanding between the authorities of the two countries and there was no
intention to enter the territory of Iraq,” Iran's ambassador Mohammad Kazem
Al-e Sadeq said.
Iran claims that Kurdish groups, such
as the Kurdish KDPI, PAK and Komala groups, are “terrorists.” Iran wants to
distract from its failure at homes by blaming foreign dissidents. Kurds are one
of the main groups that have historically acted against the regime.
Iranian missile attack targets Kurdish
groups in Iraqi Kurdistan, November 14, 2022 (credit: PDKI/Karim Botane)
Many Kurds have fled Iran over the
years and some of their dissident groups have facilities in northern Iraq. The
Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq is an autonomous region.
However, the region tries to hedge its
relations between its powerful neighbors, Iran and Turkey. In both cases it has
suffered attacks because there are also Kurdish groups that operate in northern
Iraq that are opposed to the Turkish ruling party. Turkey has also operated in
northern Iraq for decades.
Complex ties to Kurdish parties
At the same time, the two large
Kurdish political parties, the KDP and PUK, enjoy different relations with Turkey
and Iran. KDP has tended to be closer to Turkey, whereas PUK has tended to be
closer to Iran. This complexity and patchwork of groups means the region is
often vulnerable to attacks by Iran or Turkey. Baghdad’s leadership tends to be
closer to Iran as well.
Iran claims now that its attacks on
Kurds in Iraq were part of Iran’s “guaranteed right to defend oneself” and Iran
says it hopes that now there is an agreement between Iraq and Iran that will
mean that Iraq will “control the armed groups” and not enable “aggression”
against Iran.
Iran faced six months of protests
beginning last year. The protests were due to the religious police killing a
Kurdish woman, which led to protests across Iran. Iran has sought to distract
from anger at home by blamed opposition Kurdish groups.
The Iraqi ambassador claimed that “the
recent unrest in Iran was caused by the infiltration of opposition Kurdish
elements from Erbil, and our security forces destroyed a terrorist cell in Iran
that had a big plan in mind, and this team was also launched from Erbil.”
Iran’s ambassador claimed that he
complained 18 times to Iraq about the Kurdish opposition groups. The Ambassador
also said that he will travel to the Kurdistan region soon. “We have historical
relations with the Kurds and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.”
Iran has opposed Kurdish dissidents
but it has also hosted Kurds who fled the former Iraqi regime of Saddam
Hussein. Some current Kurdish leaders lived in Iran when they were young or
fled through Iran as displaced persons during the Saddam regime.
The Iranian regime has also thanked
Iraq for hosting Saudi Arabia and Iran for recent talks that led to
normalization. China and Iraq played a key role in this normalization. “We
continue to count on Iraq's role as a connecting link between the Islamic Republic
and other Arab countries,” the Iranian ambassador said.
Raisi says hijab is
the law in Iran as unveiled women face 'yoghurt attack'
April 1, 2023
President Ebrahim Raisi
said on Saturday that the hijab was the law in Iran after a viral video showed
a man throwing yoghurt at two unveiled women in a shop near a holy Shi'ite
Muslim city.
Growing numbers of women
have defied authorities by discarding their veils after nationwide protests
that followed the death in September of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman in
the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules.
Security forces violently put down the revolt.
Judicial authorities in a
town near the northeastern city of Mashhad issued arrest warrants for the man
seen pouring yoghurt over the heads of the two women, a mother and her
daughter. They were also the subject of arrest warrants for flouting Iran's strict
female dress rules, state media reported.
Risking arrest for defying
the obligatory dress code, women are still widely seen unveiled in malls,
restaurants, shops and streets around the country. Videos of unveiled women
resisting the morality police have flooded social media.
In live remarks on state
television, Raisi said: "If some people say they don't believe (in the
hijab)... it's good to use persuasion ... But the important point is that there
is a legal requirement ... and the hijab is today a legal matter."
Authorities said the owner
of the dairy shop, who confronted the attacker, had been warned. Reports on
social media showed his shop had been shut, although he was quoted by a local
news agency as saying he had been allowed to reopen and was due to "give
explanations" to a court.
Judiciary chief
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei earlier threatened to prosecute "without
mercy" women who appear in public unveiled, Iranian media reported.
"Unveiling is
tantamount to enmity of (our) values," Ejei was quoted as saying by
several news sites.
Under Iran's Islamic sharia
law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair
and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. Violators have
faced public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Describing the veil as
"one of the civilizational foundations of the Iranian nation" and
“one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic,” an Interior Ministry
statement on Thursday said there would be no “retreat or tolerance” on the issue.
It urged citizens to
confront unveiled women. Such directives have in past decades emboldened
hardliners to attack women without impunity.
Iran's judiciary
chief threatens to prosecute 'without mercy' unveiled woman
April 1, 2023
Faced with an increasing
number of women defying the compulsory dress code, Iran’s judiciary chief has
threatened to prosecute "without mercy" women who appear in public
unveiled, Iranian media reported on Saturday.
Gholamhossein Mohseni
Ejei’s warning comes on the heels of an Interior Ministry statement on Thursday
that reinforced the government’s mandatory hijab law.
“Unveiling is tantamount to
enmity with (our) values,” Ejei was quoted as saying by several news sites.
Those “who commit such anomalous acts will be punished” and will be “prosecuted
without mercy,” he said, without saying what the punishment entails.
Ejei, Iran's chief justice,
said law enforcement officers were “obliged to refer obvious crimes and any
kind of abnormality that is against the religious law and occurs in public to
judicial authorities”.
A growing number of Iranian
women have been ditching their veils since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish
woman in the custody of the morality police last September. Mahsa Amini had
been detained for allegedly violating the hijab rule.
Government forces violently
put down months of nationwide revolt unleashed by her death.
Still, risking arrest for
defying the obligatory dress code, women are widely seen unveiled in malls,
restaurants, shops and streets around the country. Videos of unveiled women
resisting the morality police have flooded social media.
Under Iran's Islamic Sharia
law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair
and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. Violators have
faced public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Describing the veil as “one
of the civilizational foundations of the Iranian nation” and “one of the
practical principles of the Islamic Republic,” the Interior Ministry statement
on Thursday said there would be no “retreat or tolerance” on the issue.
It urged ordinary citizens
to confront unveiled women. Such directives have in past decades emboldened
hardliners to attack women without impunity.
Iran’s chief justice says
unveiled women will be prosecuted ‘without mercy’
Iran’s judiciary chief has
threatened to prosecute “without mercy” women who appear in public unveiled,
Iranian media reported on Saturday.
Gholamhossein Mohseni
Ejei’s warning comes on the heels of an interior ministry statement on Thursday
that reinforced the government’s mandatory hijab law.
“Unveiling is tantamount to
enmity with [our] values,” Ejei was quoted as saying by several news sites.
Those “who commit such anomalous acts will be punished” and would be
“prosecuted without mercy,” he said, without saying what the punishment would
entail.
Ejei, Iran’s chief justice,
said law enforcement officers were “obliged to refer obvious crimes and any
kind of abnormality that is against the religious law and occurs in public to
judicial authorities”.
A growing number of Iranian
women have been ditching their veils since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish
woman in the custody of the “morality police” last September. Mahsa Amini had
been detained for allegedly violating the hijab rule.
Iranian people join a
protest in Saqez, Kurdistan province, to mark 40 days since the death in
custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Government forces violently
put down months of nationwide revolt unleashed by her death.
However, women are widely
seen unveiled in malls, restaurants, shops and streets around the country,
risking arrest for defying the obligatory dress code. Videos of unveiled women
resisting the “morality police” have flooded social media.
Under Iran’s Islamic sharia
law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair
and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. Violators have
faced public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Describing the veil as “one
of the civilisational foundations of the Iranian nation” and “one of the
practical principles of the Islamic Republic,” the Interior Ministry statement
on Thursday said there would be no “retreat or tolerance” on the issue.
It urged ordinary citizens
to confront unveiled women. Such directives have in past decades emboldened
hardliners to attack women with impunity.
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