Kurdish opposition accuses Iran of assassinating prominent leader in Iraq

Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani (R) and President of Iraq Fuad Masum (L) meet with Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) politburo members at a hotel in Dokan district of Suleymaniyah in Iraq on 15 October, 2017 [Feriq Fereç/Anadolu Agency]

The Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran has accused the Iranian regime of assassinating prominent leader, Qadir Qadri in the Sulaymaniyah province in Iraq.

Member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran, Ibrahim Zewayee, accused the Iranian security services of assassinating Qadri.

The incident comes days after another prominent party member, Salah Rahmani, 33, was assassinated in Erbil.

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Rahmani and Qadri were from Iranian Kurdistan and were Peshmergas for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI).

Earlier this week, a leader of the PDKI, Muhammad Saleh Qaderi, accused the Iranian intelligence services of targeting two of his party members in the city of Erbil.

“The Iranian intelligence has long threatened the party cadres, members and fighters with murder and retaliation against them and members of their families in order to intimidate them and force them to leave the party,” Qaderi said, adding that “the nature of the explosion and the materials used unequivocally prove the Iranian regime’s involvement.”

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