IRANIAN communists have condemned the theocratic regime’s “inhumane and irresponsible” missile attacks on two pro-Kurdish parties in Iraq at the weekend, which killed at least 13 people.

The Tudeh Party of Iran condemned these actions today as “a threat to peace and stability in the region.”

International secretary Navid Shomali warned of a “dangerous chain reaction” at a time when the US administration is working to promote its policies in the region and beating the drum for war.

Saturday’s missile attacks targeted parties with a history of supporting the struggle for the rights of Iranian Kurds.

A meeting of the Kurdistan Democratic Party central committee in the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region was hit by a missile strike that killed 13 people and wounded at least 40.

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan also came under attack, with a number of its cadres killed or injured.

Tehran’s use of military force followed the execution of three Kurdish political prisoners who were accused of membership of the banned Komala group, which is branded “a threat to national security” by the Iranian regime.

One of those executed, Ramin Hossain Panahi, was a well-known human rights activist in Iranian Kurdistan.

An international campaign to win a stay of execution for Mr Panahi received the support of the United Nations and more than a million people signed a petition demanding his release from prison.

The Tudeh Party accused the regime of planning the missile strikes in advance, saying: “The fact that the attacks were launched on the day that Iranian president was hosting his Russian and Turkish counterparts in Tehran could not be an unrelated coincidence. 

“The regime in Turkey is advocating a genocidal war against Kurds in Turkey and Syria and President Erdogan is known to co-ordinate actions and policies with his counterparts in Tehran,” the party statement said.

Tudeh warned against any measures that could spark wider reactions and could be used to intensify conflicts in the region.

“Certain reactionary and warmongering forces in the regime, in fact, see a controlled war to their advantage as it could assist them to tighten their grips on the levers of military and economic power in the country,” the party added.

Mr Shomali told the Star that Tudeh “has consistently supported the struggle of the Kurdish forces in Iran for self-government within a unified Iran, with the historic slogan, “Democracy for Iran, autonomy for Kurdistan.”