Iran must respect its borders with Iraq, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan said on Tuesday, after Tehran's forces clashed with Iranian Kurdish rebels leaving several people dead. Iranian security officials, however, fired back by demanding that Iraq prevent the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) from attacking Iran from bases located within Iraq.
The rhetoric on all sides has heated up in recent days, barely a week after Iranian officials stated that they reserved the right to attack PJAK bases in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
"We demand Iran respect the sovereignty of the Kurdistan region as part of the sovereignty of Iraq," regional government spokesman Qawa Mahmud told AFP, a day after Iran said it had taken "full control" of three PJAK camps on Iraqi soil.