Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched a new wave of drone strikes against Kurdish opposition bases in the Kurdistan Region, intensifying a campaign of cross-border attacks that has persisted despite a fragile ceasefire between Tehran and Washington. The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) reported that three drones struck the Zewi Aspi base in Koya district at 23:10 local time on Wednesday, hours after two separate drones hit a residential camp housing the families of party members at Girde Chal near Erbil. The dual assault marked the second attack on PDKI bases in a single day, underscoring Tehran's relentless targeting of exiled Kurdish groups even as U.S. officials signal progress toward a broader diplomatic understanding with Iran.
The latest strikes are part of a disturbing pattern that has unfolded since late February, when the United States and Israel launched a six-week military campaign against Iranian nuclear and military facilities. According to the KDPI, Iran has attacked PDKI bases 119 times since the outbreak of hostilities, while Kurdish authorities documented more than 800 strikes across the Kurdistan Region between late February and mid-April. The human toll has been severe: at least 20 people killed and over 120 injured, with opposition camps bearing the brunt of the assaults.
The scale of ceasefire violations is staggering. A Pakistan-mediated truce between Iran and the United States took effect on April 8, yet lower-level attacks have continued unabated, with the Kurdistan Region and the United Arab Emirates emerging as the only locations still targeted by Iranian forces. Hengaw Organization for Human Rights documented at least 18 missile and drone attacks on Kurdish party camps during the first 16 days of the ceasefire alone, killing four people and injuring at least nine others. Iranian Kurdish opposition groups have accounted for more than three-quarters of all post-ceasefire targets, signaling a deliberate shift from U.S. military sites to dissident Kurdish facilities.
The assaults have struck both military installations and civilian areas with chilling regularity. On April 30, five drones pounded Azadi Camp in Koya, which houses the families of KDPI Peshmerga fighters, while Surdash Camp in Sulaimani's Dukan district—home to families linked to Komala factions—has been repeatedly hit, including a May 5 strike that caused material damage. Earlier, on April 17, drone attacks on a PDKI camp in Balisan and the Jazhnikan area killed three members, including two women, and wounded several others. The Progressive Alliance of international political parties condemned what it described as a systematic campaign against refugee camps and opposition offices, noting that Iran "cannot call for peace while bombs are falling on Iraqi Kurdistan."
The deterioration of Iran's relations with Kurdish groups extends beyond military strikes. In February, five major Iranian Kurdish opposition parties—including the KDPI, the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), and the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK)—formed the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan (CPFIK), uniting around the explicit goal of overthrowing the Islamic Republic and achieving Kurdish self-determination. The coalition has called on Iranian armed forces in Kurdish areas to "separate themselves from the remnants of the Islamic Republic," language that analysts describe as psychological warfare designed to exploit Tehran's weakened position. Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah responded with threats against the Kurdistan Region, warning Kurds against cooperating with "hostile foreign forces."
Kurdish authorities maintain that the Kurdistan Region is not a party to the Iran-U.S. conflict, and both Baghdad and Erbil have stressed that Iraqi territory must not be used as a launchpad for attacks against neighboring countries. Yet Iranian officials continue to justify the strikes by claiming that Kurdish opposition groups pose a security threat—a narrative that Kurdish leaders firmly reject. With Washington reportedly close to agreeing on a one-page memorandum of understanding with Tehran, and President Donald Trump warning that bombing could resume if talks collapse, the future of Iran's Kurdish policy remains deeply uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the guns have not fallen silent for the exiled Kurdish opposition, even when the broader war has paused.