Iran lawmaker says any ground attack from Kurdistan is an Israeli-CIA plan

TEHRAN, Iran — A spokesman for Iran's parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said any potential ground attack launched from the Kurdistan Region would be part of a plan devised by Israel's Mossad intelligence service and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The spokesman, Hesan Kashkavi, argued that the U.S. National Security Strategy document and a book titled "Israel's Divine Mission Against Iran," attributed to Wallestein, envisage weakening Iran by fragmenting it into smaller groups. He said the country's southeast and northwest regions are identified as targets in those documents. Kashkavi said intelligence monitoring of movements along border areas is continuing and that a large number of preemptive operations have been carried out. He added that hostile elements, once detected, will be struck before they can act, and that preemptive operations have become a new element of Iran's defense strategy. The lawmaker also said the people of Kurdistan remain committed to Iran's territorial integrity and have not aligned with separatist structures because of that attachment. Kashkavi further claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged that Iran cannot be controlled and has pointed to the Iranian people's commitment to national unity.