ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has resumed shelling Mount Shaho in western regions of Iran (Rojhelat) for the second consecutive day, a human rights monitor said Sunday, highlighting damage to the mountain’s wildlife and forests.
“IRGC forces equipped with heavy military hardware, including artillery, were deployed around the village of Maysurab in Kamyaran County and targeted parts of the mount with “heavy artillery bombardment,” the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported, citing local sources.
The shelling comes as clashes between the IRGC and the Kurdistan Free Life Party’s armed wing, Eastern Kurdistan Units (YRK), have intensified in the past few weeks. In late October, Iranian armed forces claimed an attack on the dissident group’s guerrilla fighters.
Earlier to the claim, the YRK announced that they had targeted the IRGC in a retaliatory strike against their bases in Mount Shaho.
Meanwhile, the YRK warned in mid-October that they will exercise the “legitimate right to self-defense and deliver the necessary response” if attacks continue.
Mount Shaho is a prominent mountain range in the Central Zagros Mountains, stretching across the borderlands of Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces in Rojhelat. It provides habitat for Persian leopards, brown bears, wild goats, wolves, and rare bird species.
Iranian authorities designated Mount Shaho a protected area in 2009, meaning it is legally supposed to be protected from industrial degradation, unchecked development, and military disruption.
However, according to the KHRN, the IRGC has “repeatedly launched artillery and drone strikes” across parts of the area.
On Sunday, “portions” of the mount’s oak trees caught fire following the shellings.
Furthermore, the watchdog said Iranian armed forces have destroyed “parts of local pastures and forests” during the construction of military bases and roads, doing so both “intentionally” and during the buildout process.
The latest escalation in the Kurdish region follows months of insecurity since the US-Israeli war against Iran began in late February.
During the conflict between Washington and Tehran, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed Kurdish opposition fighters and Kurdistan Region Peshmerga, while a series of killings and armed attacks have heightened tensions across western Iran.
