Iranian Kurdish parties firmly reject Kurdistan Regional Government's pressure to disarm and relocate

Following a recent visit by Iran’s acting foreign minister to Iraq and the Kurdistan region, Kurdish authorities have increased pressure on three Iranian Kurdish opposition parties to disarm and relocate from their mountainous headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan to newly established urban camps.  The parties told The New Arab that they rejected the plan. 

Iran's acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, visited Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in mid-June, meeting with top Iraqi and Kurdish officials to discuss strengthening bilateral ties.

In March 2023, Iran and Iraq signed a border security agreement focused on fortifying the boundary with Iraq's Kurdish region, where Iranian Kurdish opposition groups have established bases.

"With the visit of Iran’s acting foreign minister to Iraq and the Kurdistan region, pressure has increased on Iranian Kurdish parties based in Sulaimaniyah," several political activists said in a statement. "The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) security agencies have notified Komala (the Kurdish branch of the Communist Party of Iran), the Komala of Revolutionary Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan (Shorshger), and the Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan (Zahmatkeshan) to evacuate their bases in Zirgwez, Zirgwezala, and Bana Gawra villages to Arbat refugee camps and a newly established camp in Surdash."

The three villages are located on the foot of Qaradagh Mountain, nearly 23 kilometres southeast of Sulaimaniyah City. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on September and November 2022 targeted the villages with suicide drones, but there were no casualties.   

Hassan Rahman Pana, a member of Komala's leadership, confirmed to TNA that the KRG has warned the three parties to evacuate their bases. "During our meetings with the KRG security, we made our stance clear that we will not evacuate our bases since we have been living in those camps for nearly 40 years and have become part of the people of Kurdistan," Rahman Pana clarified.

"We know that the KRG is under pressure from Iraq and Iran, so we have reduced our military presence at our headquarters, leaving only women, children, and elders in our camps at Zirgwez, Zirgwezala, and Bana Gawra villages."

Rahman Pana emphasised that the KRG has not provided a specific deadline for the proposed relocation. He reiterated that the Kurdish parties reject moving to the new camps, viewing it as a "joint plan by Iran and the Iraqi state to undermine the Kurdistan region's autonomy and implement their joint security agreement through the KRG."

TNA has contacted a KRG security spokesperson in Sulaimaniyah, but the official was not immediately available to comment.
Tehran has announced that, as part of the agreement, Iraq must disarm these groups and move them to camps. Iraqi officials stated they have fulfilled all aspects of the agreement, relocating the Kurdish groups to areas about 100 kilometres away from the Iranian border.

In recent years, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has targeted the headquarters of the Iranian Kurdish parties with ballistic missiles and suicide drones, causing numerous casualties. Iran accuses the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties of fuelling protests inside Iran and cooperating with Israel's Mossad, allegations the parties refute.