Iran's Revolutionary Guards later confirmed they had fired missiles at armed opposition groups in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

The Kurdistan region hosts camps and rear bases operated by several Iranian Kurdish rebel groups that have repeatedly faced cross-border strikes from Iran, which accuses them of serving Western or Israeli interests.

"At 11:22 am (0822 GMT), the Iranian regime launched three rockets at a PAK camp which houses our families" in an area close to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, said Khalil Sanani, spokesman of the exiled Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK).

"One guard was killed and another three wounded," he added.

On Tuesday, drone strikes blamed also on Iran, hit a camp belonging to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI).

Iran's Guards said that the bases of "anti-revolutionary groups were hit with success by three missiles" launched late Wednesday morning.

Iran has designated Kurdish opposition groups, which previously fought its security forces in Kurdish-majority areas along the border, as terrorist organisations.

But in recent years these groups have largely refrained from armed activity, although they continue to actively campaign in exile against Tehran.

Last month, five groups, including the PDKI and PAK, announced a political coalition to seek the overthrow of Iran's Islamic republic and ultimately to secure Kurdish self-determination.

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