00:00Kurds were at the center of reports claiming a ground attack inside Iran launched from northern Iraq,
00:07but the Kurdistan regional government quickly moved to firmly deny those claims.
00:12Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to the Kurdistan region's prime minister,
00:17said the reports are completely false allegations,
00:21stressing that no Iraqi Kurds crossed the border into Iran.
00:24The denial came after reports citing U.S. officials suggested that Iraqi Kurds or Iranian Kurds living in northern Iraq
00:33may have crossed the border and taken part in a ground attack inside Iran.
00:39Those reports also mentioned the possibility of U.S. or Israeli support for such groups,
00:45claims that the Kurdistan regional government has rejected.
00:49Iranian Kurds are the third largest ethnic group in the country,
00:53after Persians and Iranian Azerbaijanis.
00:57Their main disputes with the authorities center on demands for local autonomy
01:01or greater representation in local governing bodies,
01:05particularly in provinces with Kurdish majorities.
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