ABSTRACT
The Bush administration also engaged the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), which provided secrets about Iran's nuclear program and organized attacks on Iranian facilities. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a major ground offensive against East Kurdistan Defense Forces in response to its sabotage of oil pipelines. Iran's focus on a military solution to Kurdish issues intensified after the murder of Shivana Qaderi, a Kurdish human rights activist, by police in July 9, 2005, in Mahabad. The Majlis attributed the high level of support for Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) to disparities in economic development between Iranian Kurdistan and Kurdish-populated regions of Iraq and Turkey. Iran's core interests in Iraq are protecting Shiite sacred shrines in Samarra, Karbala, and Najaf. Iraq's Shiite militias are proxies for geo-political confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran for regional influence.
