UN urges Iran to respect Iraq’s sovereignty following Koya attack

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Sunday urged the Iranian government to respect Iraq’s sovereignty.

In a tweet on its official account, the UNAMI said it “took note” of the respective statements from authorities in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region regarding the bombing of Koya.

The group said it “supports their positions” and called on Iran to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighboring country.

#UNAMI took note of the statements of the respective authorities at both the federal level and that of the @Kurdistan Region as regards the #Koya attack, supports their positions, urges respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of #Iraq. #koyaattack

— UNAMI (@UNIraq) September 9, 2018

The tweet follows the Iraqi government’s condemnation of Iran’s attack.

On Sunday, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry labeled Iran’s bombardment of the Kurdistan Region’s town of Koya as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

“The Ministry affirms Iraq’s keenness for the security of its neighbors and its refusal to allow its territory to be used to threaten the security of those countries,” Ahmed Mahjoub, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.

Mahjoub added that Iraq “categorically rejects” the violation of its sovereignty via bombings “without prior coordination with the Iraqi authorities, to spare civilians of the effects of such operations.”

On Saturday morning, Iranian rockets targeted the headquarters of two Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party – Iran (KDP-I) and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), as well as a refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region’s Koya town.

The bombardment killed 14 members from the two parties and injured 40 more, with two other members still missing, believed to be trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings, the KDP-I said in a statement issued on Saturday evening.

It is the most significant attack on the KDP-I’s headquarters since 1996. The party split from the PDKI in 2006 following an internal dispute.

Loghman H. Ahmedi, Member of the Executive Board of PDKI’s Leadership, told Kurdistan 24 that so far, there has been global silence toward Iran’s attacks.

He said the attack was “Iran’s way of showing the world that they can do whatever they want in the region without fearing any consequences.”

“If the world does not have a prompt and decisive answer to these brutal violations of international law, we will see Iran become even more aggressive than they are now.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany