2016–present clashes in West Iran refers to the ongoing military clashes between Kurdish insurgent party Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which began in April 2016. Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and Komalah expressed their support to the Kurdish cause of PDKI as well, with both clashing with Iranian security forces in 2016 and 2017 respectively. In parallel, a leftist Iranian Kurdish rebel group PJAK resumed military activities against Iran in 2016, following a long period of stalemate.
The 2016 clashes came following a background of what PDKI described as "growing discontent in Rojhelat". The commander of the PAK military wing described their engagement and declaration of hostilities against the Iranian government were due to the fact that "the situation in eastern Kurdistan (Iranian Kurdistan) has become unbearable, especially with the daily arbitrary executions against the Kurds [in Iran]".
Background
Iran has a significant 8 million strong Kurdish minority, concentrated in the West of the country, many of whom are Sunni. The Kurds spread across the Iranian provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah and Ilam. Kurdish separatism is a theme in several Middle Eastern nations, and Kurdish movements have engaged in conflicts also in Syria (Kurds in Syria), Iraq (Kurds in Iraq), and Turkey (Kurds in Turkey) to promote national ambitions.
The PDKI had announced the "restart [of] armed resistance against the Islamic Republic of Iran" on 25 February. The PDKI explained that their return to arms was due to "growing discontent in Rojhelat". According to Al-Monitor analysis, since March 2015, the PDKI has dispatched several teams of its fighters and political cadets into Iranian Kurdistan. The PDKI announced in March 2016 that it was giving up a two-decade ceasefire with the Iranian government and returning its guerrilla fighters to Iran, but vowed not to initiate hostilities unless attacked. In September 2016, PDKI released a statement that their return to militancy was also motivated by Iran's nuclear deal.
Commander of the PAK military wing described their engagement and declaration of hostilities against Iranian government due to the fact that "the situation in eastern Kurdistan (Iranian Kurdistan) has become unbearable, especially with the daily arbitrary executions against the Kurds".
Timeline
2016
On 19 April 2016, PAK's armed Peshmerga units, named Kurdistan Freedom Eagles for East Kurdistan (HAK-R), attacked Iranian government security forces in Sanandaj during annual Army Day Parade of Iran, claiming to have resumed the armed Kurdish national struggle.
On 4 May 2016, the PDKI Peshmerga engaged the Iranian security forces in Sardasht area, killing 8-10 soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Following the clash, the PDKI announced in its Twitter account that "A Peshmerga code of Resistance has been released in Eastern Kurdistan: "Lions Hunt, Hyenas Eat the Dead"". There were reports about the involvement of the Iranian air force in targeting the fighting positions of the rebel group, according to Kurdish sources.
On the following day Hussein Yazdanpana, the commander of the military wing of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in Iran, told Asharq Alawsat that their force will soon resume military operations against the Iranian government forces, "Iran is at the doorstep of a wide-scale armed uprising … that will include all its cities".
On 20 May 2016, Kurdish groups reported an Iranian military build-up along the Iraqi border, constructing new military forts along its borders with the Kurdistan Region and deploying extra troops to the area. Nine new forts have been built along the border, according to the Kurdish groups.
On 20 May, Authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran executed five Kurdish rights activists in the northwestern Urmia city. The Kurdish rights activists Naji Kiwan, Ali Kurdian, Haidar Ramini, Nadir Muhamadi and Ruhman Rashidi were arrested several days earlier on charges of "conspiring against the Islamic Republic of Iran".