Iran strikes Kurdish militant groups again

IRBIL, Iraq — Iran launched a new round of strikes Tuesday at Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in Iraq’s northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region, a spokesman said.

Iranian opposition groups were targeted in the areas of Perdi and Degala, according to a tweet by the local government’s spokesman, Lawk Ghafuri. He told The Associated Press that it was not yet clear whether there were any casualties in the strikes.

No other details were immediately available. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Iraq condemns the strikes. He told reporters Tuesday in Baghdad that the national security council would meet next week to draft plans on deploying security forces to strengthen border controls.

Earlier Tuesday, al-Sudani met with the Iraqi Kurdish region’s president, Nechirvan Barzani. They discussed “the security issue in the Iraqi border areas,” according to a statement from Sudani’s office.

The two “emphasized cooperation to protect Iraq’s sovereignty, reject repeated violations, and work to prevent the use of Iraqi territory … for attacking any neighboring country,” it said.

Iran has said the strikes are necessary to protect its borders, while Iraqi Kurdish officials condemn the missile and drone attacks as unprovoked aggression on Iraq.