ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –A Kurdish Political analyst believes that Iranian Kurdish political parties will be changing the course of their military struggle in Eastern Kurdistan from offensive to defensive and adopt new approaches to bringing their fight to the cities after two decades of unilateral ceasefire since the mid-1990s. “A while back, the two [Kurdish] democratic parties announced that they will dispatch forces into [Kurdish cities] with the aim of defending them, not to launch offensives as they used to do in the past, but this time it will be to defend themselves," Qarani Qadiri, a political activist and analyst from Iranian Kurdistan told Rudaw. The ceasefire that Iranian Kurdish parties announced in the 1990s led to a period of calm in the area, but these parties always accused Iran of militarizing the Kurdish region and crackdowns on all spheres of life. This is going to change, Qadiri believes. With some 2,000 Peshmerga forces based in the border areas of Iran the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) is considered the biggest Kurdish party in Iran and leaders of the group. However, other groups such as the Komala Party have vowed to renew their fight in Iran taking into account the wave of changes sweeping across the Middle East. The Kurdish analyst also believes moving forces into Eastern Kurdistan cannot be described as a show "but it could be said it is the beginning of a new model of armed struggle,” Most recently fighting broke out in the city of Sardasht between the Iranian army and a Kurdish group calling itself The Eastern Kurdistan Protection Unit claimed responsibility for the death of two soldiers. Qadiri believes bringing the fight to the cities will boost the morale of the ordinary people in those areas. The second effect of this new style of work "can be used as a trump card on the Islamic Republic’s President [Hassan Rouhani],” by inflicting harm on its forces, Qadiri believes. Qadiri thinks that Iranian Kurdish groups cannot beat the regime in open battles in their mountain bases, but might be able to gain bigger support and do so easily in the cities. “In fact if we look at the scene of Iran and the Eastern Kurdistan the Islamic Republic’s weakest point is inside the cities not the mountains which means it is the cities that can create a powerful movement in the future,” he said. KDPI leader Mustafa Hijri announced in March that his party was moving its Peshmerga forces into Iranian cities for the new fight. “We want to change the course for our party, but we will continue our struggle in all circumstances, we will combine the mountain struggle with the struggle in the cities,” Hijri had told Rudaw. Qadiri stresses that by reshaping their war and areas of focus Iranian Kurdish parties will be able to give the regime second thought, but, he argues they need to work in a united front. "The very weak point of Eastern Kurdistan is that the political parties and organizations are not united, there is not an umbrella to combine them, and if that weak point sustains, it will negatively impact their military struggle in the future,” he said.
Middle East03-08-2026President Barzani to discuss 'prospects for joint cooperation' with Syria's Sharaa
.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)