Tehran has asked the United Nations Security Council to close the headquarters of Kurdish groups based in Iraq and disarm them for their "subversive actions" against Iran.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had repeatedly fired on the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in northern Iraq in recent months. Tehran accuses them of fomenting a wave of unrest inside Iran.
According to the semiofficial ISNA news agency, the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic to the United Nations claimed in a letter to the Security Council on November 24 that the attacks on targets inside Iraq were carried out with the aim of "protecting national security" and defending against the "subversive and terrorist acts" of Kurdish groups.
Activists say the violence is an attempt by the authorities to create fear among protesters and quell the nationwide protests that have rocked the country since Mahsa Amini died on September 16 after being detained by police for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly.
The IRGC has accused Kurdish groups of "attacking and infiltrating Iran to sow insecurity and riots and spread unrest" amid protests that erupted over Amini's death.
Anger over the death of the 22-year-old Amini has prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets to demand more freedoms and women's rights. The widespread demonstrations represent the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.
Kurdish parties opposing authorities in Iran have repeatedly announced in the past weeks that the Islamic republic is seeking to push its internal tensions outside its borders by attacking parts of Iraq.
Khaled Azizi, the spokesman of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, said in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the party "will not be drawn into the armed war that the government of the Islamic republic is seeking and supports the peaceful protests held by the people of Iran."
"The Islamic republic intends to make the people of Kurdistan an imaginary enemy for the whole of Iran because it has no solution to confront the struggle of the Iranians," Azizi added.
Iran's letter to the UN Security Council was sent on a day when the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is scheduled to hold a special session about the ongoing protests in Iran and the harsh crackdown launched by authorities on the protesters.
Germany initiated the special session of the UNHRC, which has 47 members, in order to discuss the human rights violations that have taken place during the nationwide protests in Iran.
A resolution is set to be introduced at the November 24 session that will call on Iran to end repression and violence against its own people. The resolution also provides for an independent investigative mission to document human rights violations in Iran in the context of the protests.
At least 416 people, including 51 children, have been killed by security forces across the country, according to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group. At least 83 people have been killed in Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan, three provinces with significant Kurdish populations, IHR said.
Activist reports also indicate that hundreds of people have been arrested and scores injured, with many people missing after being detained by security forces.