ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—A Kurdish rebel group’s battles with Iran is drawing a mixed response from other opposition groups that have pledged to lay down their arms against the Islamic Republic. The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI’s) fights with the Iranian military in Iran last month marked the first clashes between the two in years. Several Iranian Kurdish rebel groups including KDPI are based in Iraqi Kurdistan, but most agreed to respect the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) demand that they not carry out armed operations against the Islamic Republic. KDPI, however, has claimed responsibility for the recent battles just over the border in Iran and announced that they are deploying their fighters to Iran for “political activities,” apparently in defiance of the KRG’s stance. The fighting, which began in mid-September, has mostly occurred outside of the Kurdish Iranian cities of Sardasht and Piranshahr and has killed at least five Iranian soldiers and several Kurdish rebels. An Iranian army commander and a KDPI fighter were killed and several others wounded last week in a clash in Shino. Despite the concerns of the KRG, which has allowed KDPI and other Iranian Kurdish opposition groups to use the region as a base for decades, KDPI senior official Omer Balaki announced the group will not retreat from the Iranian Kurdistan. He said KDPI’s fighters “have been inside Iranian Kurdistan and they are conducting political activities. It is very normal that the Iranian government won’t stand for this. We will continue our path,” Balaki added. In a sign of increased tensions with the KRG, KDPI officials have recently refused to meet with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) which runs security along the Iraqi side of the border in the north. Officials from Iraq’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which has strained relations with Iran but brokered a major peace deal between the Islamic Republic and Kurdish rebels in 2011, have refused to comment the uptick in fighting. Other Iranian Kurdish opposition groups are split on the KDPI’s new armed campaign against Iran. Karim Karimi, a senior official with the Kurdistan Tailors’ Movement, said his group is ready to fight. “We will support any Kurdish political parties that fight the Islamic Republic,” he said. Last year, KDPI fighters called for attacking Iran but the party’s leadership rejected the proposal. The Kurdistan Revolutionary Tailors’ Movement, another Iranian Kurdish opposition group, supports civil resistance against the Islamic Republic but is not speaking out against KDPI. Senior leader Anwar Mohammadi said, “Each party will decide for itself on its form of struggle.” The Kurdistan Freedom Party, which has fought along with Peshmerga against Islamic State militants in the Kurdistan Region, believes that the current environment is “not appropriate” for armed activities and such activities would damage the interests of the Kurdistan Region, said Rizgar Abaszade, a member of the party’s leadership. Haji Jundi, a prominent KDPI commander currently based in Germany, said the time is right for armed struggle but the parties don’t have enough experienced fighters. He said he expects the fighters could suffer losses in the early stages but will gradually gain experience. Kamil Nuranifard, a member of the Kurdistan Struggle Agency leadership committee, told Rudaw, “We support any armed activities against the Islamic Republic.” As to whether the Kurdistan Struggle Agency is willing to fight Iran, Nuranifard said, “Why not? If we have a good opportunity we will resume armed struggle.”
