Three Kurdish groups in Iran are now fighting the IRGC
Kurdish fighters vow to resist regime's crackdown as groups search for more united strategy amid sanctions on Tehran.
By Seth J. Frantzman
August 12, 2018 18:23
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Sunday that they had killed 10 militants in the Kurdish region of Iran. The same day the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) said they had engaged in “heavy clashes” with the IRGC near the city of Oshnavieh and had killed 12 “IRGC terrorists.”
The battles come amidst a rise in tensions in Iran with US sanctions kicking in and after six months of protests in various parts of the country, including the Kurdish region. Sensing the regime is strained and the Kurdish groups are now trying to carry out more public attacks on Iran’s IRGC.
On Sunday, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) suggested forming a more united front of Kurdish groups opposing the Iranian regime.
There are several Iranian Kurdish groups that have been resisting the regime over the last decade. The PDKI was a thorn in the side of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the 1980s during a time of tremendous upheaval when the country was transformed by the theocratic government and the war against Iraq.
In 1989, Iranian agents assassinated Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, secretary-general of the PDKI, in Vienna. It viewed the Kurdish fighters as such a threat that it even threatened to invade Iraq and shelled their positions in Iraq where many Iranian Kurds had fled.
Over the last several years, the PDKI has increased its activity against Tehran’s regime, sending its Peshmerga, or soldiers, back into Iran. Until this year clashes were rare. But in the last six months as Tehran has been challenged by widespread economic protests the IRGC and PDKI have fought several small battles, resulting in deaths on both sides.
Iran has also sought to carry out assassinations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. These assassinations have not only targeted PDKI, but also members of other groups such as the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and activists.
More here:
https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Three-Kurdish-groups-in-Iran-are-now-fighting-the-IRGC-564685