Kurds Launch War In Iran : BY DAMIEN MCELROY

http://www.nysun.com/article/62270

Kurdish guerrillas have launched a clandestine war in northwestern Iran, ambushing troops as they seek Western backing to secure an ethnic homeland. In retaliation, the Iranian army has carried out a series of counterattacks in the mountains, which span the border with Iraq.Murat Karayilan, a Kurdish guerrilla commander, told the Daily Telegraph that Tehran had originally tried to recruit the outlawed groups to fight coalition troops in Iraq.
"The U.S. and Britain came to Iraq to establish a democratic system, but this scared the Iranians, so they negotiated with us and offered many things to attack the coalition," he said under a canopy of trees near his headquarters on Iraqi territory in the Qandil Mountains. Iranian newspapers have reported the deaths of seven soldiers in recent clashes with Kurdish guerrillas. Last month, the rebels claimed responsibility for shooting down an Iranian helicopter.
A loose alliance of guerrillas, styling itself the Kurdistan Democratic Federation, is fighting for an independent state which would cover the Kurdish-majority areas of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Mr. Karayilan, who is from the PKK guerrilla group, said Iran and Turkey were acting in tandem to repress their Kurdish regions. But, he added, the Kurds have been inspired by the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, which has been relatively secure since Saddam Hussein's downfall in 2003. "The regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan has increased the national feeling of Kurds everywhere," he said. Iran believes that the U.S. and Britain are now arming and training the Kurdish guerrillas to strike its territory from bases inside Iraq. Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, accused America of supporting terrorism inside the Islamic Republic. "America wants to carry out actions such as blowing up the country's oil pipelines by supporting bandits and small groups of Kurdish rebels," he told the Iranian press.

Kurdish Guerillas Launch Clandestine War In Iran The Telegraph (UK) ^ by Damien McElroy in the Qandil mountainsLast Updated: 1:54am BST 10/09/2007

Mr Karayilan, who is from the PKK guerilla group, said that Iran and Turkey were acting in tandem to repress their Kurdish regions. But, he added, the Kurds have been inspired by the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, which has been relatively secure since Saddam Hussein's downfall in 2003. "The regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan has increased the national feeling of Kurds everywhere," he said. Iran believes that the US and Britain are now arming and training the Kurdish guerrillas to strike its territory from bases inside Iraq.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, accused the US of supporting terrorism inside the Islamic Republic. "America wants to carry out actions such as blowing up the country's oil pipelines by supporting bandits and small groups of Kurdish rebels," he told the Iranian press. In the Qandil mountains, signs of a conflict gathering momentum are easily found. US army helicopters are reportedly used to shuttle officers to regular meetings with Kurdish fighters. There is a landing pad complete with spotlights near Mr Karayilan's headquarters, while four-wheel-drive vehicles belonging to a US private security contractor, are easily seen. PKK officials say privately that its fighters have left in recent months to join cells inside Iran. But Mr Karayilan, an apparently jovial figure who delights in the literal translation of his surname, Black Snake, suggests that the US has so far done too little for the Kurds. "We are defending the developments in the region since 2003," he said. "In this we are ready to be on the right side and have the benefits of that. "So far we keep our stance apart because American and Britain are not doing enough to help us." Meanwhile, artillery shells are reportedly fired into this region almost every day and families have been forced to abandon summer farmsteads. "Every day it gets worse," said Abdullah Hamid, 52. "I have crops still in the ground but I can't take it any more." Iran has denied responsibility for the shelling. Yet Abdulwahid Gwany, the mayor of nearby Chomin, recalls a telling encounter with his counterpart on the other side of the border. "I was showing him some photos on my desk when he saw one of Tony Blair with our Kurdish president. He was so startled he left immediately."

Iran Air Force plane crashes, no casualties
An Iranian military airplane crashed in northeastern Iran, but the pilot ejected from the crash and was unharmed, the state news agency reported on Tuesday. The crash occured on Monday near Mashhad, 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Tehran, the Islamic Republic News Agency said. The pilot ejected and there were no casualties from the crash. A spokesman for the Mashhad Fighters' Base, Gholam Reza Zinatbakhsh, blamed the crash on technical failures. "The case is under investigations," Zinatbakhsh told IRNA. The report did not specify the type of the plane. Iran's air force has American-made jet fighters dating back to before the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the shah, a close U.S. ally. It also has more recent Russian-made fighters.

Ay-Melate-Hagh-Nashenas The Ungreatfull Nation