Kurdish parties in Iran on Sunday announced that they were forming a coalition called the Alliance of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, a front opposed to the Islamic Republic as pressure from domestic protests and the US military increases.
The parties include the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle and the Komala Toilers of Kurdistan. The dissident factions have long been military targets for Iran, with many members exiled to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Iraqi Kurdistan's Regional Government was quick to put out a statement after the announcement, rejecting threats made against a “neighbouring country” and reassuring that it would not allow any party to use its territory as a launch pad for an attack.
“Today, several parties released a statement in which they made threats against a neighbouring country,” the region's Interior Ministry said in a statement, adding that the Iraqi Kurdistan region was a “factor of stability and calm in the region and has never been a source of threat or danger to the security of any neighbouring country.”
It reaffirmed that it would not allow any party to use the region to harass a neighbour.
The alliance on Sunday said its main objective was to “bring down” the Islamic Republic and establish Kurdish self-determination.
While no collective armed action has been seen, there have been reports of members of PJAK, the Iranian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), were recently intercepted by Tehran. Reuters reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had allegedly been informed by Turkey's intelligence agency of the attempt to cross. The group denied the interception reports. Ankara, the EU and the US designate the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
Iran has targeted the Kurdistan region of Iraq with missiles and drones, typically aimed at Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups, as well as US-linked sites and Kurdish energy infrastructure.
Iraq and Iran signed an agreement in 2023, with Baghdad committing to disarming and relocating Iranian-Kurdish groups from the border areas to camps. Since then, the armed factions have remained for the most part on the sidelines.
But a renewed opportunity arose when protests broke out across Iran at the end of last year, marking the largest wave of unrest in the country in years. Iranian-Kurdish groups released statements of support. In a more cautious approach, Iraqi Kurdish leadership has refrained from issuing direct statements in support of the protests.
The recent protests spread quickly across Kurdish-majority areas in western Iran. In January, US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said most of the deaths related to the crackdown by authorities on protests had been recorded in the Kurdish areas.
The proposal to form such a coalition had been put forward in 2022 in response to protests at the time over the death of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. In response to the support of the unrest at the time, the IRGC launched several drone and missiles attacks on KDPI and Komala facilities.
PAK and the IRGC had fought on the same side when Iran sent forces to Iraq to fight ISIS a decade ago. It has also received training from the US to fight the extremist group. Although the group is small, it maintains some capability to fight.
The decision to form an alliance comes at a time of growing tension between Iran and the US despite nuclear negotiations. US President Donald Trump has reportedly been presented with several scenarios, including a military option to kill Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has been under pressure for weeks after an outbreak of civil disobedience, which showed signs of resurfacing with student protests this weekend. Tension remains high amid military postings by the US and Iranian naval exercises and drills in the Strait of Hormuz this week.
