Events in Iran are having a significant impact on Iraq’s Kurdistan region due to geographic, political and security interconnections, particularly as many leaders of Iranian Kurdish parties are based in the region. The Importers Union has announced a sharp decline in imports from Iran to nearly half their usual levels, while human rights organizations report that Iran has rapidly constructed a security wall along the border with the region, stretching more than 600 kilometers.

Protests that began on the final day of last year quickly expanded, especially in predominantly Kurdish areas in western Iran. Human rights reports reviewed by Annahar said four Kurdish protesters were killed in the city of Malekshahi, in Ilam province. Eyewitnesses said Revolutionary Guard military patrols opened fire directly on demonstrators as a protest passed near a government building in the city center, killing four people and wounding more than 20 others.

The Iranian Kurdish party Komala condemned the Revolutionary Guards’ actions and, in a strongly worded statement, called on various segments of Kurdish society to expand strikes and engage in street protests to boost the movement’s momentum. The party said the deep economic crisis caused by what it described as the Iranian regime’s failed and destructive policies sparked an economically driven uprising that rapidly spread to cities and provinces, evolving into protests with a political character.

The Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), which is considered close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and maintains bases and armed factions along the Iran-Kurdistan border, said in a video statement by leadership council member Rivar Abdanan that the “East Kurdistan uprising” had begun in the provinces of Kermanshah and Ilam. The party threatened to spread it to other cities in East Kurdistan and called on Iranian Kurds to provide all forms of support for the uprising.


The statements by Iranian Kurdish political parties - many of whose members and headquarters are located within the Kurdistan region - come for the first time since Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement several months ago. Under the deal, the headquarters, camps and settlements of tens of thousands of Iranian Kurds were relocated from border areas deeper into the Kurdistan region, with commitments that these parties would not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs from Iraqi territory.

The agreement followed a serious security and political crisis during which Iran repeatedly bombed cities in the region.

Political researcher and writer Suwar Hasani told Annahar that three interconnected files between Iran and the Kurdistan region would be “significantly affected” if the protests escalate, particularly in western Iran, where the Kurdish population is estimated at around eight million.

Hasani said Kurdish parties and leaders recognize, even if not publicly stated, that Iran is a key obstacle to improving relations between the Kurdistan region and Iraq’s federal government, especially on strategic issues such as oil and gas. He said Tehran fears that any noticeable development in Iraqi Kurdistan would increase its appeal to Iran’s own Kurdish population. Iran also views the region as a potential flashpoint because Iranian Kurdish parties based there are capable of organization and intervention.

Hasani added that Iran is deeply involved in the Kurdistan region’s internal politics, backing one major party over another, and that internal unrest in Iran could disrupt these balances - something that has occurred repeatedly over the past several years.