Iranian forces have launched an operation targeting Kurdish armed groups in neighbouring Iraq while also carrying out a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks against Israel and United States-linked assets across the Middle East, reports said
The strikes mark the 19th round of Iranian attacks since the outbreak of the regional conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States earlier this week.
Iran’s state broadcaster, Press TV, reported early Thursday that the country’s military was targeting what it described as “anti-Iran separatist forces.” The report did not initially specify the exact locations of the strikes.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry later confirmed that security forces had targeted positions belonging to “separatist groups” attempting to infiltrate Iran through its western borders. According to a statement carried by state media, the groups suffered heavy losses during the operation.
The ministry also said Iranian forces were cooperating with what it called “noble Kurds” to counter what it described as an “Israeli-American” plan to attack Iranian territory.
The strikes reportedly took place in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, nearly a week after the war between Iran and the United States and Israel erupted.
According to Iran’s semi-official news agency, Tasnim News Agency, the conflict has killed at least 1,045 people across Iran since Saturday.
Multiple explosions were reported in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniyah. Local media said at least four blasts were heard near the areas of Arabat, Zarkuiz and Surdash.
Iran claims strike on US tanker after American torpedo sinks warship near Sri Lanka
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday claimed it had struck an American oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, hours after a US torpedo attack sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
According to Reuters, Iranian state media reported that the US tanker caught fire following the strike. The development comes after Iran warned that the United States would “bitterly regret” the attack on its naval vessel, IRIS Dena.
The escalation follows Wednesday night’s incident in which a US submarine torpedoed the Iranian frigate in international waters off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. The attack killed at least 87 Iranian sailors, while several others remain missing.
Iranian authorities said the warship was returning home after participating in naval exercises near the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam.
According to Iranian officials, the commander of the vessel and several senior officers were among the 32 personnel rescued. More than 60 crew members are still unaccounted for.
In a statement after the incident, the IRGC warned that the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz would be under its control, signalling a potential threat to global shipping routes.
The latest developments mark a sharp escalation in the confrontation between the United States and Iran, which has already left over a thousand people dead in Iran and killed six American soldiers. The conflict has also expanded beyond the Gulf, with hostilities now reaching the Indian Ocean close to India’s maritime neighbourhood.
Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has warned the US of consequences. “The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set,” Araghchi said in an X post.