Over the eight months following the twelve-day war between Iran and Israel, Iranian Kurdish opposition parties have intensified their meetings, seeking to overcome long-standing divisions and forge a unified front in anticipation of a phase that could follow any large-scale confrontation between Tehran and Washington.
Last Sunday, five prominent Kurdish organizations announced the formation of a political-military alliance aimed at toppling the Islamic Republic, which has ruled Iran since 1979, and defending what they describe as “the Kurdish people’s right to self-determination.”
The alliance brings together the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, the Kurdistan Freedom Party, the Kurdistan Struggle Organization in Iran, the Komala Party of Kurdistan Toilers, and the Kurdistan Free Life Party.
Despite the announcement, the move has not yet been translated into action on the ground. Leaders from the five parties said the agreement includes the establishment of joint committees and teams to implement its provisions, including military coordination, while taking into account the “sensitivity of the situation” in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which has hosted these groups’ headquarters since the 1980s.
During the Iran-Iraq War, the former Iraqi regime allowed these parties to deploy in several border areas, including Qandil and the outskirts of Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, where they maintained close—often secret—ties with Iraqi Kurdish parties.
Mohammad Nazif Qadri, a member of the political bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, said the agreement came “after a series of intensive negotiations,” adding that the signatories had “reached an understanding to establish a political-military alliance to overthrow the regime and liberate all of Iranian Kurdistan from its control.”
Qadri explained that the objective goes beyond regime change to “establishing a democratic system that guarantees the political and national rights of Iran’s peoples, including the Kurdish people.”
The number of Iranian Kurdish opposition parties is estimated at around ten organizations, most of which maintain armed wings. However, Kurdish observers and activists say these forces have failed for years to build a broad alliance because of divergent political visions, repeated splits, and deep mistrust.
Leaders of the new alliance deny that there was a complete rupture in the past. Qadri said that during the 2022 protests following the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, the parties established “a joint coordination center that led the uprising in Iranian Kurdistan and other areas.”
Yet differences over the future of Kurdish regions persist.
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The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran and factions within Komala—among the oldest organizations—advocate a federal system within a democratic Iran. By contrast, the Kurdistan Freedom Party calls for an independent Kurdish state, a position shared by two smaller parties.
The Kurdistan Struggle Organization proposes an autonomy arrangement, while the Kurdistan Free Life Party calls for a system of self-administration. The Communist Party, for its part, emphasizes the right to self-determination.
Khalil Nadri, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Freedom Party, said the parties recently agreed on “a unified position granting the Kurdish people, after the fall of the regime, the right to decide their own fate.” He added that their condition for any alliance with other Iranian forces is “formal recognition of this right.”
As for the timing of any military action, Nadri linked it to the trajectory of confrontation between Washington and Tehran. “Our military move depends on U.S. action against the regime,” he said, adding that it remains unclear what form potential strikes might take—“whether they would be limited or comprehensive and lead to the collapse of the regime.”
“If they are comprehensive,” he continued, “we and our people are militarily and politically prepared to overthrow the regime and manage the next phase.”
At the same time, he stressed that current operations are limited to internal movements “in the context of self-defense” against the Revolutionary Guard and security services.
Since 2023, these parties have halted their military and political activities from the territory of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq under a security agreement between Baghdad and Tehran. The deal stipulates evacuating their border headquarters, disarming them, and relocating their members to camps away from the border, under the supervision of Iraqi authorities and the United Nations.
Farzin Karbasi, an Iranian Kurdish opposition political analyst based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, believes the new alliance reflects an awareness of the sensitivity of the moment. He said that “having a joint operations room among Kurdish parties has become a necessity to protect Kurds and their rights and to confront challenges in the event the regime falls.”
Karbasi added that unity could prevent clashes on the ground among factions if these forces enter Kurdish cities following a potential regime collapse, noting that “a unified stance would strengthen their chances of securing political rights in Tehran and participating in shaping the transitional phase.”
The article is a translation of the original Arabic.
