MESOP NEWS TODAY : ONLY PKK/PEJAK DOESN’T FIGHT THE MULLAHS

Third Kurdish party joins armed struggle in Iran

By Rudaw 47 minutes ago – 1 Mai 2017 – SORAN, Kurdistan Region— The Kurdistan Communist Party of Iran (IKCP) has mobilised its Peshmerga troops along the Iranian borders in a bid to resume armed struggle against the Islamic Republic, following two other Kurdish parties that broke a decade-long ceasefire with Tehran last year.Party officials told Rudaw their armed forces were now based some three kilometers away from the Iranian army posts near the borders with the Kurdistan Region.

“Our main objective is to establish communication with our organisations in Eastern Kurdistan (Iran),” said IKCP commander Khalil Fatahi. “We are able to do that in a better way from here since we are closer to our people and can do plenty of work from here and not in the cities,” Fatahi added. The two other Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (HDK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (HDKA) have recently accelerated their anti-government campaigns, including sporadic border clashes with Iranian forces.

The HDKA, which is based mainly in the Kurdistan Region, announced last year it will bring its fight closer to the Kurdish areas in Iran after years of non-violent movements outside Iranian Kurdistan.Iran has said its intelligence agencies have boosted their collection of information and surveillance in northern Iraq to counter what they see as terror threats from Iranian Kurdish separatists.

Tehran has in the past accused its regional rival Saudi Arabia of arming and funding Iranian Kurdish groups opposed to the Islamic Republic allegedly through its consulate in Erbil, a claim Kurdish officials have categorically rejected. The HDKA has accused Tehran of masterminding the deadly bomb attacks that targeted its headquarters in Koya, Kurdistan Region in December killing 6 people and wounding 4 others. Iran has not addressed the allegations.   HDKA has welcomed IKCP’s decision and said armed struggle is the likely option that all Kurdish factions will resort to for Tehran to come to the negotiating table.

“We would be happy to see all other Kurdish parties as well to join our campaign, and our partnership with the IKCP will only strengthen after their decision,” said HDKA commander Rahim Mangori. www.mesop.de