Iran. Raisi at the parade, ‘we are a global military power’

di Shorsh Surme –

These days marks the anniversary of the bloody war between Iraq and Iran, which lasted eight years and broke out in 1980, just one year after the birth of the Islamic Republic. The war shaped the young theocracy and helped fuel antagonism against the United States, which supported the forces of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
During the parade in Tehran, President Ebrahim Raisi praised Iran’s “transformation” into a global military power, equipped with advanced missiles and drones, several of which were on display at the parade.
Last month, Tehran unveiled its latest domestically produced drone, called Mohajer-10, which boasts an extended operational range and advanced weapons capabilities, according to state media.
The Iranian government has faced growing criticism over the past year as Kiev and Western countries accuse Tehran of sending drones to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine. Iranian-made Shahed (Martyr) drones have been launched repeatedly over Ukraine.
The Iranian president also thanked Iraq for disarming and moving Kurdish opposition groups away from the border of the Iranian Kurdistan region: “No group near the border with Iran has the right to possess weapons and we will not allow any formation separatist to incite sedition against the Islamic Republic of Iran at border points,” Raisi said, quoted byIrna.
Iraq announced on Tuesday that it had complied with the terms of the joint security pact with Iran and had disarmed Kurdish groups in exile on the Iraq-Iran border, adding that offices previously used by opposition groups were “definitively evacuated.”
Iran and Iraq signed a border protection agreement in March, in which Baghdad agreed to a September 19 deadline to disarm Kurdish opposition groups and secure border regions. In July, the Iranian military threatened to resort to military action if Baghdad did not meet the deadline.
The Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region, namely the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDPI), Komala, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) and the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK), they have been falsely accused of fueling national protests and inciting unrest in the country. The groups, fighting for greater rights for Iran’s marginalized Kurdish population, have fought an on-and-off war with the Islamic Republic.