Tehran attacks Kurdish dissidents in Iraq, accuses US of trying to destabilise Iran through protests

As protests against the custodial death of 22-year-old iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on September 16 after she was detained by morality police enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict restrictions on women's dress entered their eleventh straight day, Iran on Monday accused the United States of seeking to destabilise the country by supporting what it called "rioters."

"Washington is always trying to weaken Iran's stability and security although it has been unsuccessful," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.

On his Instagram page, Kanaani accused the leaders of the United States and some European countries of abusing a tragic incident in support of "rioters" and ignoring "the presence of millions of people in the streets and squares of the country in support of the system".

Protests over the death of Mahsa Amini have spread across at least 46 cities, towns and villages. Iranian state TV has suggested that at least 41 protesters and police have been killed since the protests began Sept. 17.

Last week, the United States imposed sanctions on Iran's morality police over allegations of abuse of Iranian women, saying it held the unit responsible for the death of Amini.

The US has also said that it will ease internet curbs on Iran to counter Tehran's clampdown on the protests, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledging to "help make sure the Iranian people are not kept isolated and in the dark" -- a move sure to be seen by hardliners in Iran as unacceptable foreign interfernce.

Iran blames Kurds, attacksn them in Iraq

Meanwhile, Iran has blamed armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of involvement in the unrest, particularly in the mountainous northwest of the country near the border with Iraq, where most of Iran's roughly 10 million Kurds live.

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Monday unleashed a wave of drone and artillery strikes targeting what Tehran says are bases of Iranian Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, a semiofficial news agency reported.

It was the second such cross-border assault since Saturday, at a time when Iran is convulsing with protests over the death of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who was detained by the nation’s morality police.

In Monday’s report, iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency said the Guard’s attacks were in response to the support that the separatists have allegedly provided for the unrest inside Iran, as well as their attempts to smuggle in weapons.

Published on: Tuesday, September 27, 2022, 11:01 AM IST