Separatist threat: Iran boosts military presence at borders

This video grab taken from footage provided by the Iranian military to Fars news agency social media on Sept 29, 2022, reportedly shows a missile launch from the Iranian Kurdistan (Komalah) region directed towards Sulaimaniyah in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. (FARS NEWS AGENCY / AFP)

TEHRAN – Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has stepped up military presence near the western and northwestern borders of the country to deal with "separatist" threats, an IRGC commander said Friday.

Armored IRGC units and special forces have been deployed "to prevent the infiltration of terrorists affiliated with separatist groups based in northern Iraq and the smuggling of weapons into the country," Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC Ground Force, was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

READ MORE: Iran targets 'terrorist groups' in Iraq's Kurdistan, reports Fars 

The forces would decisively confront insecurity caused by "evil-doers and anti-Iranian separatist terrorist groups in the northwest of the country," Pakpour added.

ALSO READ: Report: Iran's Revolutionary Guards targeted 'terrorists' in Iraq

The IRGC recently used artillery and drones to attack what it called the positions of Iranian "separatists" based in Iraq's northern Kurdistan Region.