Iran assumes responsibility for attack on Kurdish dissidents
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) says at least 11 killed, 50 wounded in Fateh 110 short-range missile attack; Iran's Khamenei urges Iran's armed forces to increase their power to 'scare off' enemy.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards assumed Sunday responsibility for firing seven Fateh 110 short-range missiles in an attack Saturday on a Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) base in Iraq.
Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that the Revolutionary Guards had launched the short range, road-mobile missiles that can reach up to 300 km, hitting the PDKI base located in the city of Koya, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Baghdad and 200 kilometers from Iran.
The separatist group said that at least 11 people were killed and 50 were wounded, with officials immediately blaming Iran for the assault.
Iran's State television broadcasted the launching of the surface-to-surface missiles at the Kurdish dissidents' headquarters.
Kurdish media outlets reported that the secretary-general of the group, Mustafa Mawludi, and his predecessor, Khalid Azizi, were wounded.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that "Iran won't allow terror groups to threaten its national security," adding that the next attacks would be even more lethal.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iran's armed forces on Sunday to increase their power to "scare off" the enemy, as the country faces increased tension with the United States.
"Increase your power as much as you can, because your power scares off the enemy and forces it to retreat," Khamenei's official website quoted him as saying at a graduation ceremony for cadets of Iran's regular armed forces.
"Iran and the Iranian nation have resisted America and proven that, if a nation is not afraid of threats by bullies and relies on its own capabilities, it can force the superpowers to retreat and defeat them," Khamenei said during a visit to Iran's Caspian port city of Nowshahr.
Iran's State television also showed Khamenei praising Iranian naval forces in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, while speaking to their commander via videolink.
Meanwhile, a senior military official said Iran had capability to export the know-how to produce solid rocket fuel, the state news agency IRNA reported. Solid fuel rockets can be fired on short notice.
"In the scientific field, today we have reached a stage where we can export the technology to produce solid rocket fuel," said Brigadier General Majid Bokaei, director-general of Iran's main defence university, quoted by IRNA.
Iran said earlier this month it planned to boost its ballistic and cruise missile capacity and acquire modern fighter planes and submarines to boost its defense capabilities.
On Saturday Iran dismissed a French call for negotiations on Tehran's future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in wars in Syria and Yemen, following the US pullout from Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement.
Shi'ite power Iran rejects accusations from Saudi Arabia that it is giving financial and military support to Yemen's Houthis, who are fighting a government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition of Sunni Arab countries.
Some say Iran's attack was triggered by the Kurdish dissidents' recent strike in Iran in July, killing 11 Iranian soldiers.
Iraq condemned the attack executed by the Revolutionary Guards, and its foreign ministry said, "Baghdad opposes any violation of its sovereignty by attacking in its territory without prior coordination between the authorities in order to prevent any harm to its civilians."
In recent years, Iran and Iraq have been fighting against the Islamic State (IS). Teheran has been transferring military aid to Baghdad to bolster its operations against the terror group.
The Kurds represent about 10 percent of Iran's population of 80 million people, with many living in the mountainous northwest that borders Iraq and Turkey.
