Iran launches war games near Iraqi Kurdistan border

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Iranian soldiers march during the annual military parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of its devastating 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, on September 22,2017 in Tehran. President Hassan Rouhani vowed that Iran would boost its ballistic missile capabilities despite criticism from the United States and also France.

Iranian forces have launched war games in an area near the border with Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Iran’s state media reported on Sunday, a day before an independence referendum is to be held in the region.

State broadcaster IRIB said the exercises, part of annual events held in Iran to mark the beginning of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, are centered in the Oshnavieh border region.

The war games will include artillery, armored and airborne units, IRIB reported.

Clashes with Iranian Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq are fairly common in the border area.
Iran has joined Turkey and the Iraqi government in voicing opposition to the referendum.