GCC condemns Iran's deadly bombardments in Iraq's Kurdistan region

RIYADH, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned on Thursday Iranian deadly cross-border bombardments in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, according to a press release on the GCC's website.

Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf also "affirmed the GCC's rejection of anything that would prejudice Iraq's sovereignty, security and stability" during his meeting with Iraqi Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Abdul-Sattar Hadi Al-Janabi in Riyadh, said the GCC press release.

Al-Hajraf also stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation between the GCC and Iraq.

During the meeting, they discussed topics of common interest such as the GCC-Iraqi relations, the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides in 2019, and the electrical interconnection program.

On Wednesday, Iranian forces carried out bombardments in Kurdistan in northern Iraq, leaving 13 people dead and 58 others injured, most of them civilians, the regional Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Service said in a statement.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said the attack "targeted four areas in Iraq's Kurdistan region and resulted in many deaths and injuries."

However, Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force, said the bombardment carried out by his forces is an "anti-terrorist operation," official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.

Iranian and Turkish forces frequently attack the military bases of their Kurdish opposition parties in Kurdistan in northern and northeastern Iraq, accusing them of carrying out attacks against their home countries from the Iraqi Kurdish region.