Airstrikes hit Iran-Iraq border as US and Israeli plan to mobilise Kurds gathers pace

Intense waves of airstrikes have hit dozens of military positions, frontier posts and police stations along northern parts of Iran's border with Iraq in what appears to be preparation by US and Israel for a new front in their war.

A US official with knowledge of the discussions between Washington and Kurdish officials said the US was ready to provide air support if Kurdish fighters crossed the border from northern Iraq.

A spokesperson for Israel's military said the air force had been "heavily operating in western Iran to degrade Iranian capabilities there and to open up a way to Tehran and create freedom of operations there".