MESOP INTERVIEW : Mustafa Hijri: “If our Peshmerga Forces comes under attack, they will defend themselves”

by PDKI | on June 7, 2015 | In an interview with the Persian broadcast of the Voice of America (VOA) PDKI leader Mustafa Hijri shed light on a number of issues facing the Kurdish nation in eastern (Iranian) Kurdistan and the PDKI. Regarding the purpose of deploying PDKI’s Peshmerga Forces to the border region between eastern and southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan, Hijri explained that PDKI’s Peshmerga Forces have always used this region to operate inside Kurdistan and Iran. “If our Peshmerga forces comes under attack by Iranian military or paramilitary forces, they will defend themselves,” Hijri averred. Asked whether it is the right time to deploy such great number of Peshmerga Forces to the borders when the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is in a vulnerable situation due to the war against Islamic State (IS), Hijri stressed that PDKI has reached the conclusion protecting the interests of KRG should no longer be at the expense of the Kurdish people’s struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The PDKI has held back many of its activities inside eastern Kurdistan to prevent a situation where Iran can use them as a pretext to destabilize and attack southern Kurdistan. This political decision has cost the PDKI and the national liberation struggle in eastern Kurdistan greatly. Henceforth, Hijri said in the interview, this will change and PDKI will reinvigorate the struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Concerning the deployment of forces to the border region and the attack the PKK carried out against PDKI’s Peshmerga Forces in Kelashin Mountain, Hijri expressed his hope that clashes do not happen again. However, he also emphasized that the PDKI is determined to use any route it finds suitable to send the Peshmerga forces to eastern Kurdistan and Iran. Hijri also expressed PDKI’s worries about that a potential nuclear deal with Iran will strengthen the theocratic regime in Tehran and give the regime more leeway to pursue its destructive and aggressive regional policies. This is a concern that Hjiri has conveyed to U.S. officials. http://pdki.org/english/mustafa-hijri-if-our-peshmerga-forces-comes-under-attack-they-will-defend-themselves/