Middle East — 2026-07-15

Iran Launches Drone and Missile Attacks on Kurdish Dissident Bases in Iraqi Kurdistan

BLUFTehran's 232-strike campaign against Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq operates in a permissive vacuum, with neither Washington nor Erbil willing to fold these factions into any broader de-escalation framework.

The Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) said Iran carried out three consecutive drone strikes on one of its Peshmerga bases north of Erbil early Monday, reporting no immediate casualties or damage 1. Iran has not claimed the attack 1. A separate, unclaimed strike hit a facility linked to an Iranian Kurdish opposition group in Erbil the same day, according to a security source cited by Shafaq News, with the faction involved and any casualties not yet disclosed 2. The strikes followed a fresh wave of US strikes on Iranian air-defense, radar, and missile sites that CENTCOM said targeted Iran's ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz 1. Foreign Policy reported that Iranian Kurdish groups, including PAK and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, have been attacked 232 times in Iraqi Kurdistan since the Iran war began, including strikes on PDKI camps on July 1 and 2 and the killing of six PDKI fighters inside Iran on July 1 3.

Analysis
Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Erbil fall outside any US-Iran de-escalation arrangement, and Monday's unclaimed drone strikes on PAK and a second faction extend a campaign that has hit these groups 232 times since February without US or Iraqi response, drawn from two independent primary accounts corroborated by wider outlet reporting. Tehran is pairing this military pressure with diplomatic pressure on Baghdad to tighten the 2023 disarmament pact and expel the groups outright, seeking their elimination from Iraq regardless of how the broader Gulf confrontation resolves, though the timing may instead reflect opportunistic IRGC targeting tied to the Hormuz exchange rather than a centrally directed campaign. With neither Washington nor Erbil signaling the strikes will be folded into the memorandum of understanding, the groups face continued attrition without protection.

4 sources

Iranian drones target Kurdish opposition group in Erbil amid renewed fighting with US - Rudaw
Unclaimed attack hits Iranian Kurdish opposition in Erbil - Shafaq News
U.S.-Iran Deal Hasn't Stopped Attacks on Kurds - Foreign Policy
Iran launches drone, missile attacks on dissident bases in Iraqi Kurdistan - France 24