ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday rejected claims accusing the Region of involvement in arming and sending Iranian Kurdish opposition parties to Iran, after widespread media reports alleging a Kurdish ground operation into Iran the day prior.

In a statement, KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani denounced the claims as “completely unfounded," saying, "We categorically deny them and affirm that they are being published deliberately and maliciously.” 

Reports emerged on Tuesday indicating that Washington will depend on an armed Kurdish invasion into western Iran to divert Iranian military personnel. Kurdish officials and Washington have staunchly rejected the reports. 

The KRG and its parties “are not part of any campaign to expand the war and tensions in the region,” Hawramani added. 

The accounts were built on US President Donald Trump’s speech after launching a large-scale military offensive alongside Israel against Tehran, telling Iranians to “take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for a generation.”

Iranian authorities have long raised concerns about Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, currently predominantly based in the Kurdistan Region, of intending to attack Tehran with ‘separatist’ aims. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned the groups at the beginning of the conflict that at any attempt of mobilization, “their destruction is on the agenda.”

The armed groups have been repeatedly subjected to Iranian attacks since the start of the war, with Iranian authorities citing security concerns for the attacks and accusing the opposition groups of harboring a separatist agenda.

The latest such attack took place on Wednesday when a base belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) was targeted by three drones in Erbil’s Koya, leaving at least one dead.

The Iranian Kurdish opposition groups announced a joint coalition the month prior, vowing to topple the Islamic Republic, realize the Kurdish people’s goal of self-determination, and instill a democratic system.

Hours later, the KRG rejected threats made against “a neighboring country,” asserting that it will not allow any party to use the Region to attack a neighboring state.