A commander of the Iran Revolutionary Guards has asked the Tehran government to approve emptying 33 Kurdish villages along the country’s border with Turkey and Iraq, Yeni Yaşam newspaper reported on Friday.
Citing a top-secret document sent from commander Muhammed Taki Osanlo to Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi, the newspaper said the revolutionary guards claimed that those villages had been used for smuggling and as routes for Kurdish politicians.
“There are villagers that cooperate with those parties and exchanges arms with them. By using the mobility of people living in those villages, they are ensuring the movement of their secret staff and ammunition,” Yeni Yaşam quoted the documents as saying.
“The support of public internal bodies for the northwest border is needed to control the population in regions along the border, to prevent resurgences, to cut the infiltration of those tied with foreign enemies, to ensure the secrecy of border security, to control the borders in the most efficient way, and to establish stability and security at the borders,” the document said.
Osanlo also requested funds to be allocated for emptying the villages at the border and to strengthen border security, according to Yeni Yaşam.
People living in Kurdish-populated regions in Iran (Rojhilat) are the ones suffering most from international embargoes imposed on the country. Tehran’s security policies, which include establishing security zones in the area by emptying farmlands, contribute greatly to the economic hardships faced by Kurdish villagers.
