Revolutionary Guards deploying artillery, tanks to northwest of Iran PHOTO

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force has begun to deploy artillery and armoured vehicles to the northwestern border areas as the deadline of September 19 for the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government to take action against anti-Iran terrorists is looming.

Images and videos taken from urban areas reveal that the IRGC Ground Force has started to dispatch artillery and tanks to the northwestern border regions a few days before the deadline for the KRG’s action to disarm anti-Iran terrorist separatist groups stationed in northern Iraq, Tasnim reports.

Some sources argue that the military deployment is aimed at maintaining combat preparedness and ensuring the security of Iran’s northwestern boundaries.

In July, Iran’s highest-ranking military commander cautioned the Iraqi government that its failure to meet a deadline of September for action against hostile armed groups in its northern regions will result in a fresh round of Iranian military strikes against them.

“Armed secessionist groups are there in northern Iraq that cause insecurity at our borders,” Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said.

Lauding the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force for the “effective missile and drone attacks” against the terrorist groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region with the purpose of protecting Iran’s security, the general said the strikes have been suspended after the Baghdad government undertook to disarm those groups and stop their activities by September.

He noted that Iran will wait until the end of summer and hopes that the government of Iraq would honour its commitments, adding, “If the deadline passes and they remain armed or carry out any operation, our operations against those groups will definitely reoccur more severely.”

The IRGC launched several rounds of military strikes on the positions of separatist groups in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in 2022.

The first stage of the attacks began on September 24, after terrorists’ move to ignite riots and unrest along border cities west of Iran.

The move by IRGC Ground Force to hit Iraqi-based Komalah and Democrat terrorist groups came after illegal entry by these groups’ armed teams into the Iranian border cities.

The IRGC has said, “These terrorists - who are backed by the global arrogance and are based in the Iraqi northern region – were forced to flee the country after accepting heavy casualties.”

The IRGC underlined that Iran on many occasions has warned officials of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region about the terrorist groups’ activities in the region but they have failed to pay necessary attention to the warnings and take proper measures to prevent terrorist moves.

It has also described the operations by the Iranian forces as part of efforts to ensure durable security along borders and punish criminal terrorists.