In recent days, Iranian security forces have been killed in several clashes. Iraq’s Shafaq News noted on June 30 that “four Iranian security personnel were killed and several others injured in two separate armed attacks in western and northwestern Iran on Tuesday, local media reported.”
The reports go on to note that Iran’s Tasnim News, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), had reported that “two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed and two others injured in an ‘armed terrorist attack’ in the border city of Paveh in Kermanshah province.”
In a different incident, there was also a shooting in the city of Baneh in Iran’s Kurdistan province. “Gunmen targeted a police checkpoint, leaving two police officers dead and injuring three other people, including a three-year-old girl.” It was not clear who was behind this attack.
Meanwhile, Rojhelat.Info, an online resource that mostly covers Kurdish issues in Iran, noted that armed clashes were continuing. Rojhelat is the Kurdish name for Eastern Kurdistan.
The report says that Paveh is now a flashpoint of clashes. It also names Marivan and Mahabad as being areas where clashes are happening.
Armed clashes continue to spread throughout western Iran
These areas are not near each other. Mahabad is around 230km north of Marivan. Paveh is 100km south of Marivan. Baneh is between Marivan and Mahabad. All of these areas are in the relatively mountainous western Iran, where Kurds live. Mahabad is in West Azerbaijan province, but it is primarily a Kurdish city with a population of around 170,000.
The Rojhelat media account noted that “as armed clashes continue to spread across different parts of Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan), local sources reported another armed attack on Monday night targeting Iranian military and security positions in the Doli Mirawa area of Paveh (Pawe), in Kermanshah (Kirmasan) Province.”
It said that “at least three government security personnel were killed in the attack. However, these reports have not yet been independently verified.”
The incident followed the clashes in Marivan and Mahabad where IRGC members had suffered casualties. The report said that the Eastern Kurdistan Defense Units (YRK) had been involved in the clashes with the IRGC. The YRK are the armed part of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK).
PJAK is a far-left Kurdish party that is often described as the Kurdish Iranian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK is well known for creating numerous offshoots and branches with an alphabet soup of names. They did the same thing in Syria with the PYD and YPG and other groups.
Turkey views the PKK as a terrorist group, although in the last year Ankara has sought to complete a deal that would see the PKK disarm and essentially end a multi-decade conflict. Turkey has opposed a Kurdish uprising in Iran, primarily because it is concerned about PJAK exploiting such a rising.
PJAK is one of seven Kurdish Iranian opposition groups that joined a coalition in late December 2025 to support protests in Iran and also oppose the regime. In the past, PJAK has not gotten along with more nationalist Kurdish groups, such as PDKI, due to significant ideological differences.
However, in recent months, there have been more joint discussions among PDKI, PJAK, PAK, Khabat, and branches of the Kurdish Komala party about what comes next in the struggle against the Tehran regime.
Spotlight on Kurdish insurgent groups, nationalist ambitions
Western media reports about the US or Israel potentially supporting Kurdish groups have put a spotlight on them. The groups were initially skeptical of launching an offensive in Iran in March 2026.
Many other minority groups in Iran, as well as the Persian opposition groups, often oppose the Kurds. As such, the groups were wary of being sucked into a cauldron, then exposed and subjected to a crackdown.
It’s worth noting that some Kurds, just people people all across Iran, serve with government forces. As such, any Kurdish uprising would also pit Kurds against each other potentially. Iran has been pressuring Iraq to expel Kurdish Iranian opposition groups.
Iran and its proxies in Iraq also targeted the Kurdistan Region of Iraq more than 850 times since the February 2026 conflict began. As such, Iran wants to crush Kurdish opposition before it can grow. PJAK mostly stayed out of this conflict so far, with Iran also avoiding strikes on PJAK camps.
Now it appears PJAK is clashing with the IRGC. “With the latest incident, three provinces in Rojhelat - West Azerbaijan (Urmia), Kurdistan (Sine), and Kermanshah (Kirmaşan) - have witnessed similar armed clashes over the past week, pointing to a significant escalation in military confrontations across the regime,” Rojhelat.Info notes.
Rudaw Kurdish media noted that “In a short statement late Sunday, PJAK said the IRGC had launched an operation in the Gagosh area, south of Mahabad in West Azerbaijan province, triggering clashes between PJAK fighters and IRGC forces.” PJAK said that “the IRGC has started an operation in the village of Gagosh in the Mahabad region and, based on our information, the clashes have continued until now.”