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Iran threatens to pursue Kurdish rebels
inside Kurdistan region-Iraq
28.2.2007 |
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February 28, 2007
TEHRAN, February 28 - Iran's Revolutionary
Guards will pursue Kurdish rebels inside Iraq's
Kurdistan region borders if Baghdad fails to expel
them from border zones, the head of the elite force
warned on Wednesday.
"I warn the Kurdish movements of Iraq and Iranian
anti-revolutionary armed rebels linked to foreigners
that the Iraqi government must expel them from the
region," said Yayha Rahim Safavi, according to the
Mehr news agency.
"Otherwise, the Revolutionary Guards will view it as
its right to chase and neutralise them beyond
borders to defend its own security and that of the
Iranian people," he said.
Safavi was speaking at the funeral for 14 Iranian
military personnel killed in a helicopter crash last
week during an operation against rebels close to the
Turkish border in West Azarbaijan province
(Kurdistan-Iran).
"The United States and the Zionists seek to incite
insecurity in Iran by allocating millions of
dollars, equipping and financing
satellite televisions and buying arms for these
groups," Safavi added.
Iran accuses the United States and Britain of
seeking to stir violence in its restive border
provinces inhabited by ethnic minorities of Azeris,
Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Baluch.
The guards chief called on "Kurds and Azeris in
border areas to cooperate with armed forces to
annihilate anti-Islamic rebels", adding "more than
30 rebels were killed" in the recent operations in
the area.
Iran said on Tuesday it had killed three local
chiefs of a Kurdish rebel group PEJAK, which claimed
shooting down the helicopter and killing 20 soldiers
and senior officers.
AFP
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Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranę or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatę
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey. It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
The present leader of the organisation is Haji
Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the
members of PEJAK are women, many of them still in
their teens, and one of the female members of the
leadership council is Gulistan Dugan, a psychology
graduate from the University of Tehran. This is due
primarily to the fact that PJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PJAK believes that
women must have a strong role in government and must
be on an equal level with men in leadership
positions.
More about PEJAK- Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan
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