Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi says the PJAK organization is on the verge of destruction due to the "appropriate actions of the Revolutionary Guards."
Iranian media report that Moslehi told cabinet today: "Following the approved course of action, the Revolutionary Guards executed a series of operations to fight against PJAK and have done so very successfully."
“We believe the group is on verge of collapse,” the intelligence minister said. “We have stopped all the operations [PJAK] was planning to carry out inside the country, and thanks to the good and timely action of the IRGC, the organization is quickly moving toward complete eradication."
These statements come after government media reported yesterday that five Iranian security officers were killed in the Chaldran region by PJAK forces.
Makou Governor Hamid Ahmadian announced yesterday that a vehicle carrying the five officials was stopped by PJAK forces, and the officers were killed in the standoff.
The PJAK official website also acknowledged the conflict in Chaldran without giving any further details.
Chaldran is in the northwestern province of Western Azerbaijan. PJAK has taken responsibility for the death of 26 IRGC members in the region and also the explosive sabotage of Iranian pipelines carrying gas to Turkey.
Iranian authorities previously announced the arrest of seven people in connection with the gas pipeline explosions.
In the past month, Iran has been targeting the border regions of Iraq with artillery shells on the grounds that PJAK, which the Islamic Republic regards as a terrorist group, has forces based in this region. Iran has even accused Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government of sheltering PJAK forces. The KRG has denied the charges and called on Iran to end the shelling of its territories.
PJAK, or the Kurdistan Free Life Party, is a militant group that claims to fight for the rights of Iran’s Kurdish minority.
