Kurdistan

Tensions continue to mount as Iraq balances the Iran border crossing closures with national needs

Authorities closed the al-Shib crossing last week as they upgraded security and detection equipment, an Iraqi official told Reuters on Wednesday.

Iraqi security forces stand at the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran after Iraq closed the crossing following airstrikes on the Iranian side that security sources said killed an Iraqi citizen, Iraq, April 4, 2026.
Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (C) looks on during the family photo during the 52nd session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad on October 17, 2026.

Iraqi PM orders investigation into provincial council threats over closed Iran border crossing

A view shows the conical temple roofs, courtyards and pilgrims at the Lalish sanctuary during the Jama'i festival in Lalish, Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on October 10, 2026; Illustrative.

Fourteen years after genocide, Yazidis may see stability in Iraq - analysis

VOTING IN Egypt’s parliamentary elections, in Giza, Nov. 2025.

Voices from the Arab Press: Iran, the Kurds, and the future of Arab power


Baku was Hitler’s target. Now it is Erdogan’s - opinion

True peace in our region can only be guaranteed by a grand alliance between Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Kurdistan, and a united Azerbaijan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the AK Party headquarters, Ankara, Turkey, October 7, 2026; illustrative.

Iran strikes Iranian opposition group Kurdistan Freedom Party in latest attack - analysis

This comes after Iran has targeted the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), Komala, and Khabat groups in recent weeks, and is also pressing Iraq to expel Kurdish Iranian opposition groups.

Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Freedom Party, known as PAK take part in a training session at a base on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq February 12, 2026.

IRGC officer killed in Iran-Iraq border mountains as fighting with Kurdish opposition intensifies

Iran’s ambassador to Iraq says Tehran and Baghdad have reached an agreement on as Iran seeks to suppress what it calls Kurdish ‘terrorist’ and ‘separatists.'

Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Freedom Party, known as PAK take part in a training session at a base on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq February 12, 2026.

Iran attacks Komala Kurdish opposition group in Iraq amid increased regional tensions

Many Kurdish Iranian opposition groups are concerned that Iran will now escalate attacks in the wake of the US leaving Iraq on September 30.

Illustrative: Komala party members look towards the debris is strewn from mangled structures following drone strikes on the Iranian Kurdish opposition Komala party's Sordash camp, which resulted in the death of a female party member and the injury of two others, April 15, 2026.

Syria’s Kurdish autonomy is fading as Arab unrest challenges Damascus’s control

BEHIND THE LINES: While the Kurdish-led authority was dissolved on paper, many of its institutions continued to function in reality.

DEMONSTRATORS RIDE through a street while waving Syrian flags during a rally in Hasakah, Syria, last Friday.

Iran tensions, Syria talks put Iraqi Kurdistan at the center of Middle Eastern diplomacy - analysis

The Kurdistan Region is involved in a variety of discussions, in part due to its geographic position. It sits at the crossroads of major regional policies. 

Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region, gives a joint press conference with France's Foreign Minister in Arbil, the regional capital, on February 5, 2026.

Israel, Kurdistan, and the hopes for a strong political alliance - opinion

In a twisted way, the closer Kurds and Jews get, and the more visible that becomes, the more people start seeing Kurds as another kind of Jew: in how they frame the Kurdish political struggle.

Israelis from Kurdish origin take part in a rally in support of the Kurdish referendum outside the American consulate in Jerusalem September 24, 2017

Iran launches drone strikes on Iranian Kurdish opposition camp in northern Iraq

Iran has carried out more than 1,000 drone and missile attacks on the Kurdistan Region. Many of them targeted Kurdish opposition groups.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take position on the Qarachogh Mountain in the Makhmur district, about 60 kilometres south of Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region, on September 30, 2026.

Iraq targets lingering ISIS pockets with airstrikes, operations in security vacuum after US pullout

"F-16 aircraft carried out two airstrikes targeting a hideout belonging to remnants of Daesh elements in the Nareen area, resulting in its complete destruction."

Shi'ite fighters launch a rocket during clashes with Islamic State militants on the outskirts of al-Alam, Iraq.

Islamic regime attacks against Kurdish forces affect both Kurds in Iran, Iraq as tensions rise

More than 1,000 drones have been fired against Kurdish forces in Iraq, while Kurds in both Iran and Iraq fear that the strikes will reach their homes.

Image Reboot: A female fighter from from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK)  trains at a base near Erbil, Iraq, in Feb.