By Xinhua,
Baghdad: Iraq has strongly condemned the shelling of villages in the northern Kurdistan region by Iran, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry has summoned the Iranian ambassador here to register its protests against the Iranian action, a statement said.
Iran’s envoy to Baghdad Hassan Kazemi Qomi Monday received a letter of protest over Iran’s aircraft and artillery bombardment that damaged properties and wounded many people in the area.
The government has urged Tehran to immediately halt the attacks in the border villages, the statement said, adding that such provocative actions will have “negative impact on the relations between the two countries”.
Iraq understands the motives of the Iranian action on the border (referring to the Kurdish rebels occupying the border areas between the two countries) but Baghdad has emphasised repeatedly that it should not be a unilateral action, the statement added.
Iranian security forces frequently shell areas near the Iran-Iraq border to eliminate Kurdish rebels who uses the Iraqi territory to launch attacks against Iranian authorities.