Iran hits Kurdish groups in Iraq as conflict widens

TEHRAN: Fresh blasts were reported in Iran’s capital on Thursday as Tehran said it had targeted Kurdish groups in Iraq and warned “separatist groups” against action in the widening war.

The conflict that began Saturday with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader has spread across much of the region, sparking global economic pressure, energy disruptions and travel chaos.

Iran’s retaliatory strikes have targeted many of its Gulf neighbours which host US military bases, while Israel has hit Lebanon and moved forces across the border.

On Thursday, Tehran said it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups “opposed to the revolution”, as reports said the United States was looking to arm Kurdish guerillas to infiltrate Iran.

The strikes which killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative, followed a warning from Iranian officials.

“Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action,” said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

“We will not tolerate them in any way.”

The strikes were further evidence of how the war launched by the United States and Israel is drawing in parties across the region.

It has also caused market ructions and will test global economic resilience “yet again,” the head of the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have claimed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil flows, with oil tanker transits down 90 percent, according to market intelligence firm Kpler.

US officials from President Donald Trump down have given varying reasons for starting the war and shifting explanations of its aims.

It was launched without explicit approval from lawmakers, but the US Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s authority to continue strikes.