Iran says it has apprehended a ‘terrorist’ cell in its Kurdistan province, affiliated with Komala, a left-wing Kurdish group.

A statement issued Friday by the provincial office of the intelligence ministry said that all members of the cell had been arrested, thwarting plans by the “terrorist outfit” for operations timed to coincide with international Quds Day, which falls on the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, April 29 in 2022, and Labor Day, May 1.

“Gathering information from labor unions, inciting rallies in front of governorates, trying to provoke clashes and riots, documenting protests, spreading false news about the killing or suicide of Kurdish women, and insulting religious sanctities have been the core activities of this group,” the announcement said.

Along with other Kurdish groups and parties, Komala uses bases in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, and its peshmerga have for decades been involved in intermittent clashes with Iran’s armed forces.

Generally, the Kurdish parties − including Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) − favor Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran. Pejak (the Free Life Party of Kurdistan), an affiliated of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), formed in Turkey but also based in northern Iraq, has generally favored a unified, independent Kurdistan uniting Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.