Kurds

Iran’s ethnic groups could alter the balance of power - opinion

Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities could play a decisive role in challenging the regime and reshaping the country’s political future.

|ByAHMAD OBALI
FOR IRAN’S Christian community, the postwar crackdown has been particularly severe, with at least 50 members detained by authorities. Here, Iranian Christians take part in the New Year prayer ceremony at a church in Tehran last January.
Demonstrators hold signs as they gather near the Francis Scott Key Bridge during rally in support of the Iranian people and to condemn the execution of political prisoners in Iran, in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2026.

Iran executes two men over January mosque arson amid trial outcry

Mehrdad Mohammadinia and Ashkan Maleki had allegedly been part of a group of demonstrators who targeted the Jafari Mosque in Tehran's Gisha neighborhood.

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
A member of Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan stands while holding a machine gun at a mountain base in Khalifan near Erbil, Iraq's Kurdistan region, on March 12, 2026.

Iran relentlessly targets Kurdish opposition in northern Iraq despite regional ceasefire - analysis

The attacks illustrate how Iran is seeking to keep up the pressure on Kurdish opposition groups. Many of these groups have forces and bases in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Children hold signs on the day Syrian Kurds demonstrate to mark Kurdish Language Day, demanding constitutional recognition of the Kurdish language by the Syrian government, in Qamishli, Syria, May 14, 2026.

Syria’s limited Kurdish election exposes limits of Damascus’s democratic transition - analysis

Syria had already held types of limited elections in other areas of Syria last year. However, areas outside government control did not hold a vote.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN

Who are the Kurdish groups and leaders that the US might work with in Iran? - explainer

The US is reaching out to Kurdish Iranian opposition groups as tensions rise, following airstrikes on Iran. Kurdish factions recently formed a coalition to oppose the Iranian regime.

MARCH 4, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) walk back to their outpost near Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq on Saturday, June 10, 2023. The KDPI, a leftist Kurdish group of Iran that has been running an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic's regime in Iran from exile for decades

Kurdish militias face high-stakes gamble in potential US alliance against Tehran - interview

Beyond what many see as a recent betrayal, the reality for Kurds in the Islamic regime will likely only worsen if the US and Israel fail to secure regime change.

MARCH 4, 2026ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
Fighters from the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an Iranian Kurdish opposition group, are pictured near the border with Iran in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, in the outskirts of Sulaimaniya, Iraq, June 21, 2025.

Drone strike hits Iranian Kurdish opposition group in Iraq, wounding two

A drone strike on an Iranian Kurdish opposition group’s base in Iraq’s Kurdistan wounded two fighters. This attack highlights ongoing tensions between Iran and militant groups in the region.

MARCH 4, 2026ByREUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) members pose for the camera as they celebrate Nowruz at the Jezhnikan Village around Baharka, Iraq, on March 18, 2025.

US, Kurds discuss potential Iran military operation, sources say

While a final decision has not yet been made, the goal of a joint operation would be to create room for Iranians opposed to the Islamic regime to rise up.

MARCH 4, 2026ByREUTERS
Kurdish internal security forces stand guard, as Syrian Kurds demonstrate to demand the release of Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been held in prison by Turkey since his capture in 1999, in Qamishli, Syria February 15, 2026.

Pahlavi’s challenge: Will he overcome Kurdish distrust to lead a unified Iran? - opinion

Iran’s opposition struggles to unite as minority rights remain unresolved.

MARCH 2, 2026ByVEYSI DAG
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah and an Iranian opposition figure, speaks during the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, February 13, 2026.

The Kurds' moment: Why Iran’s Kurdish opposition thinks history is turning in its favor

MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: Kurdish groups in Iran and Iraq have faced incredible hardships. They have persevered. Now they sense that their moment has arrived.

MARCH 1, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
KURDISH GEN. Hussein Yazdanpanah, whom the writer first met almost a decade ago, has been fighting for Kurdish sovereignty for years.

For Kurds in Iraq, Iran conflict has opportunities and pitfalls - analysis

In the past, some Kurds were able to seek refuge in Iran during Saddam Hussein’s genocidal poison gas attacks. However, the Iranian regime has been persecuting Kurds over recent decades.

FEBRUARY 28, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Travellers, mainly Iranian Kurds, arrive at the Haji Omran border crossing with Iran (Iranian flag in the background), in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region, on February 1, 2026.

Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq threatens US, Kurdish groups

The militia's threat came as the US Embassy in Israel said it had authorized the departure of non-essential personnel on Friday.

FEBRUARY 27, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim men from the Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah wave the party's flags as they walk along a street painted in the colours of the Israeli flag during a parade marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Baghdad

Will Iran remain a unified country? - opinion

The phenomenon of empires disintegrating along ethnic lines has been known for many generations.

FEBRUARY 26, 2026ByMORDECHAI KEDAR
Protesters gather under a huge "Lion and Sun" pre-Iranian Revolution national flag, placed in front of Munich’s famous Church of Our Lady Liebfrauenkirche, during a demonstration organised by The Munich Circle calling for a free Iran, during the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany.

Rojava failed, but Kurdish pragmatism may succeed where utopia did not - opinion

Rojava is shifting from revolutionary autonomy toward conditional integration.

FEBRUARY 24, 2026ByVEYSI DAG
Members of the Kurdish community and other protesters attend a demonstration against recent military clashes between the Syrian army and Kurdish forces, in Berlin, Germany, January 24, 2026.