Kurdish rebels agree to co-ordinate operations against Iran

On 3rd September, Kurdish militant groups fighting in Turkey and Iran announced that they are co-ordinating their activities, following an upsurge in attacks by the Iranian and Turkish militaries.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which operates in south-eastern Turkey, and the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), fighting in north-western Iran, will combine forces against the Iranian military in response to an onslaught against their safe havens along the borders with Iraq.

The PKK, of which the PJAK is a subsidiary, announced the move, stating that “ the goal of Iran is eliminating the Kurdish people, and not the PJAK party, and these are the reasons that led us to take this decision ”.

Iranian forces, spearheaded by the elite Revolutionary Guard, launched a major offensive against the PJAK in July. Reports indicate that dozens of rebels and Iranian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. Meanwhile, Turkey began its own offensive after the PKK ambushed a number of military convoys in the volatile south-east.

Both operations have seen numerous cross-border attacks into northern Iraq. Turkish warplanes have bombed dozens of targets in the Qandil Mountains in Iraq, whilst Iran has sent ground forces over the border to destroy PJAK bases. The government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has complained about both the military incursions and the continuing provocations by the PKK and PJAK, which have used the mountainous region as a base for many years.

On 9th August, the PKK's leader Murat Karayilan told Kurdish media outlets that he was withdrawing PJAK forces from the Iranian border to PKK camps as a “ unilateral measure to prevent any further attacks ”. In the same statement, however, he announced that PKK forces would be based on the border instead, and did not wish to fight Iran but would do so if Iranian forces attacked PKK units.

The latest statement seems to amount to a declaration of war by the PKK against Iran. This suggests much greater practical co-ordination between the militant groups in the future, which in turn is likely to be met with increased co-operation by the Turkish and Iranian militaries. This raising of stakes will mean more cross-border operations and increased diplomatic tensions, both with the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq and the central government in Baghdad.

Sources: AFP, Today's Zaman, Hurriyet, PRESS TV

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.

Iran to increase security measures for its scientists

Iran has said that it will increase security measures for its nuclear scientists, after one of its experts was killed and another wounded in corresponding bomb attacks in Tehran on Monday 29th November.

Speaking about the attacks, the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi told ISNA news agency that the government has been, “pursuing serious protective measures for hundreds of our scientists and experts since last year and, based on the recent decision, we are to increase protection measures multiple-fold and take other steps as well."

The two bombings were perpetrated by assailants on motorbikes. One of the bombs killed Majid Shahriari, of the nuclear engineering faculty at the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, and the other injured Fereidoun Abbasi, a nuclear physicist described by the UN as being "involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities".

Earlier in the year, another Iranian scientist, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, was killed in a similar attack. Iran has accused the West and Israel of carrying out these assassinations, but analysts believe that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard may be behind the attacks aimed as a means to prevent potential defections.

Salehi said that Iran already offered its scientist considerable protection, but that unfortunately the “devilish ways employed by enemies cannot be predicted." He reasoned that the West was responsible for the killings as a means to deprive the Islamic republic of power, saying "The enemy has found that Iran's nuclear work is advancing considerably and has turned into a symbol of power for the Iranian nation. It makes efforts to withhold the Iranian nation from the power, but they made a big mistake."

Additionally, Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani criticised the West for failing to condemn the attacks, saying "This move by the westerners, who are frequently condemning terrorist acts but have remained silent on the recent assassinations in Iran, is scandalous and disgraceful."

Source: Guardian

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.