Syrian Kurdish force calls on Iran to stop representing YPG fighter as one of their own

The official Twitter account of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) on Thursday called on Iran to stop presenting one of their fighters as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The official Twitter account of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) on Thursday called on Iran to stop presenting one of their fighters as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Ariel Kobanî (Mohammad Hossain Karimi), who is originally from Iran, was one of our fighters who fell fighting against [the Islamic State (IS)] in Serêkaniyê in 2015,” the YPG account said.

His picture was reportedly shown in a banner in the streets of Iran’s capital.

The YPG claimed the memorial was set up by an IRGC-linked organization that “portrays one of our fallen fighters as a member of Iranian army and hung a picture of him in the middle of the capital city of Iran, Tehran.

“We regard the manipulation of the political identity of our comrade who was martyred in the fight against [IS] as an act of disrespect and strongly condemn it. We request the immediate removal of the mentioned posters,” the Syrian Kurdish forces demanded.

Mohammad Hossain Karimi, nicknamed ‘Ariel Kobani’ and originally from Tehran, reportedly joined the YPG early in the fight against IS and participated in several battles against the jihadist group until he was killed in a village near Serêkaniye on May 9, 2015.

Iran has tried to falsely represent him as one of their fighters, and it is unclear when the banner was set up.

A number of Iranians, mainly Rojhilati (Eastern Kurdistan) Kurds, have joined the YPG movement to fight IS in Syria.

Karimi is one of the few Persians who was part of the YPG.

Editing by Nadia Riva