Iran is attacking Kurdish Iranian opposition groups in northern Iraq. The attacks also targeted the Komala Party of Kurdistan, aka the Kurdistan Toilers Party.
In addition, the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) said its Kurdistan National Army’s Chamshar headquarters were attacked with a ballistic missile on Sunday. That illustrates how Iran is seeking to keep up the pressure on Kurdish opposition groups. Many of these groups have forces and bases in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.
“A base belonging to the Iranian Kurdish opposition party Komala was targeted by Iranian missiles in Erbil province late Sunday, a senior party official said,” Kurdistan Region-based news channel Rudaw Media Network reported.
“As Iran’s Islamic Republic continues its attacks against Komala, tonight at 22:40, two missiles struck the headquarters of the Kurdistan Toilers Party (Komala) in Alana Valley,” the report quoted Komala’s Amjad Hussein Panahi as saying on Facebook.
The attack took place in the Khalidan district of Erbil province, Rudaw reported.
“Since the start of its war with the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran has targeted Komala’s bases and headquarters with more than 81 missiles and drones,” Panahi said.
Iranian attacks on Kurds have increased
PAK spokesperson Khalil Kani Sanani said: “PAK has been attacked between 50 and 60 times since the beginning of the [Iran] war.”
As of May 21, the Kurdistan Region had suffered 857 drone and missile attacks since February 28, when the US and Israel began attacking Iran, Rudaw reported.
The attacks have been carried out by Iran and also by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. Although there is a ceasefire between Iran and the US, Iran has continued the attacks against the Kurdistan Region.
Kurdish Iranian opposition groups based in northern Iraq have sought closer coordination in recent months through a coalition of six parties that have long opposed Tehran.
The coalition emerged in February and March as pressure mounted on Kurdish Iranian groups in the wake of regional tensions linked to the US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran.
The coalition includes branches of Komala, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI), the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), PJAK, and Khabat Kurdish Iranian opposition movements.
These groups have maintained compounds, political offices, and camps in northern Iraq for decades. Many of them were forced to flee to Iraq following repression after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.
IRAN HAS targeted these groups in the past, but it has increased attacks recently. It is not clear why Iran seems to be singling out PJAK and Komala in recent weeks.
Iran has not carried out as many attacks against PJAK, even though PJAK claims it is the most active group in western Iran in Kurdish areas.
Iran and the US have been in talks to reach a deal, but it is not clear if they will succeed. The US has hinted in recent weeks that a positive outcome was close, but Tehran continues to insist on what it calls its “rights” in the deal.
Killed, in a standoff that lasted several hours
Meanwhile, in Western Iran, a funeral was held for two Kurdish Yarsani brothers who were killed during a raid in Kermanshah province on May 28. Iran has continued to kill and oppress Kurdish regions in recent months.
“The brothers, Mojtaba and Meysam Veisi, were killed in Xolekewsh, also known as Ghaleh-Kouhesh, a village in Dalahu, about 99 kilometers west of Kermanshah,” The Amargi news site reported. “Local sources told The Amargi that IRGC forces from the Nabi Akram base surrounded a house at about 4 p.m., and that the standoff lasted several hours... ‘Without prior warning, security forces opened fire on the residence and killed Mojtaba and Meysam Veisi,’ a source said.”
Hengaw, a Kurdish human-rights group, reported: “Meysam Veisi and his brother Mojtaba Veisi, two prominent Kurdish activists, followers of the Yarsan faith, and founders of the Kurdish library in the Dareh Deraz neighborhood of Kermanshah (Kermashan), were killed after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces surrounded their safe house in a village in Dalahu County and opened direct fire on the residence. Another civilian who owned the house remains missing, and his fate is still unknown.”
“Meysam and Mojtaba Veisi were widely known cultural and community figures in Kermanshah and followers of the Yarsan faith,” the report said. “They were among the founders of the Kurdish library in Dareh Deraz (Mahdieh Township) and played a central role in organizing Kurdish Newroz celebrations in the area. In addition to his civil and cultural activities, Mojtaba Veisi was also a prominent wrestler who had won several provincial titles in Kermanshah.”
The Yarsan faith that the men belonged to is a unique religion in parts of Iraq and Iran. Its members are also known as Kaka’i in Iraq.
A video of a large funeral for the brothers has circulated online. It shows a large number of women in black chanting. Other images showed large numbers of people gathered to memorialize the slain brothers.