Corps des gardiens de la révolution islamique strikes a camp of a Kurdish opposition party in Erbil
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan confirmed that, since the outbreak of the war against Iran, its camps have been subjected to more than 126 missile and drone attacks carried out by Tehran.
A camp belonging to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, opposed to Tehran, was targeted by an attack using two suicide drones in the city of Erbil in northern Iraq, amid a focus by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Tehran’s proxies on targeting Kurdish opposition groups within the territory of the Kurdistan Region, in violation of the principle of good neighborliness.
The party stated in a post on platform X that the “Jijnekan” camp, located near Erbil, was attacked by two drones.
The statement clarified that the attack took place on Wednesday at 21:30 local time, without providing information about any human casualties or material damage.
It added that, since the outbreak of the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, the party’s camps have been subjected to more than 126 missile and drone attacks by Iran.
Observers say that the continued Iranian attacks are part of preparations for a potential resumption of war by weakening Kurdish opposition groups amid the escalation between Washington and Tehran and threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to return to fighting.
Among the most prominent Iranian Kurdish opposition groups are the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Iranian Kurdish Komala Party, and the Kurdistan Free Life Party.
During the war, Trump faced significant domestic political pressure against sending U.S. ground troops into Iran. He therefore held phone calls with Kurdish leaders in Iraq and Iran, urging them to play their role in the war, which led to speculation that Kurdish forces might assume this role.
However, the U.S. president later launched a sharp verbal attack on the Iranian Kurdish opposition, saying that it had received weapons and funds but chose not to participate in the war due to various concerns.
Observers believe that the enthusiasm of the stateless Kurds to join the fight for regime change will be balanced against the risk of being exploited again and then abandoned by the United States, as occurred in the Syrian experience with the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Kurds have not forgotten the appeal by President George H. W. Bush to the Kurds of Iraq to rise up against Saddam Hussein, an oppressive and weakened regime, following the 1991 Gulf War. Nor have they forgotten the American silence that followed when Saddam unleashed his forces against the rebellious Kurdish communities, which had already been victims of the infamous Iraqi Anfal campaign in the late 1980s.
Despite their refusal to participate in launching a large-scale offensive against Iranian forces, the Kurdish opposition is facing unprecedented attacks, whether by drones or ballistic missiles, targeting not only border areas but also buildings and sites within cities of the Kurdistan Region, carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or its allied Shiite militias.
Although the regional government has confirmed that it refuses to allow Iranian Kurdish groups to launch attacks from within its borders against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian army, Tehran continues its strikes without deterrence, apparently not trusting Erbil’s official positions.
During the war, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued an explicit warning to the Peshmerga forces against approaching border areas after those forces reinforced their military presence to prevent cross-border breaches.
The number of Kurds worldwide is estimated at around 40 million, spread from Turkey and Syria to Iran. They are considered the largest ethnic group in the world without their own state. The closest they have to this is the semi-autonomous region they inhabit in Iraq.
Iranian Kurds, concentrated in the Kurdistan region in northwestern Iran, make up about 10 percent of the country’s population of 90 million.
