Iran Increases Troops Near Kurdistan Region, Threatening Ground Operation

Iran has recently sent new military reinforcements to its western borders close to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and threatened to launch a cross-border ground invasion into Iraqi Kurdistan against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, a senior Iraqi Kurdish official in Iraq who asked to remain anonymous told VOA.

"Iran has gathered forces near Kurdistan Region and through a delegation of Iraqi military officials, sent a message to the Kurdistan Regional Government that it may conduct a ground operation if forces of East Kurdistan [Iranian Kurdish militants] do not evacuate the area," the official said.