EXCLUSIVE: Iranian Kurdish opposition groups state they are ready to challenge Tehran but are currently holding back as the conflict between the United States, Israel, and the Islamic Republic continues to unfold.
Khalid Azizi, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), told Digital in an exclusive interview that Kurdish forces are closely monitoring developments but have no plans to launch a ground offensive at this point.
Recent reports have suggested that President Donald Trump spoke with Mustafa Hijri, the leader of the KDPI, as Washington explores potential Kurdish involvement in pressuring Iran.
Azizi declined to confirm or deny the occurrence of such a conversation.
Azizi himself has direct experience with Iran’s military retaliation.
In 2018, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired ballistic missiles at the KDPI headquarters in Koy Sanjaq, located in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, during a leadership meeting, resulting in at least 18 deaths and dozens of injuries.
“We have been targeted by the Islamic Republic,” Azizi said. “The first Iranian missile was directed at my headquarters, and I was personally wounded in that attack.”
Despite these risks, Azizi noted that Kurdish resistance remains robust after decades of confrontation with Iran.
“The Iranian Kurdish resistance movement is actually quite strong because we have maintained a presence on the ground since the Iranian revolution,” he stated.
Azizi spoke from Washington, D.C., where he mentioned Kurdish representatives were meeting with policymakers and institutions to discuss the situation in Iran and the potential role Kurdish groups could play if the conflict escalates.
For now, however, Kurdish groups say they are waiting to observe how the broader war progresses.
“We are prepared, and our party is well-organized,” Azizi said. “But at present, we have no intention of entering Iranian Kurdistan because ground forces have not been a focus of this war.”
“It is easy to start a war,” he added. “But ending it will be far more complex.”
The KDPI is one of the oldest Kurdish opposition movements opposing Iran’s Islamic Republic. The group, a member of the Socialist International, primarily operates from bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and has engaged in armed and political opposition to Tehran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Azizi noted that Kurdish political movements have recently taken a significant step by forming a joint alliance aimed at coordinating their political strategies.
“We have succeeded in uniting Kurdish political parties,” he said. “This has been welcomed by the Iranian Kurdish people and various Iranian political parties.”
The alliance, known as the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, unites several historically divided Kurdish factions that oppose the Islamic Republic.
Azizi stated that Iran’s future will ultimately hinge on whether Iranians themselves rise up against the regime.
“If we examine the goals of the United States and Israel in this war, they have targeted Iran’s military, security, and political institutions. In this regard, Iran has been weakened,” he said.
“But the regime remains in power because the people are not in the streets, and there is no viable alternative to replace it at this time.”
Azizi urged Western governments to focus not only on the military campaign but also on assisting Iranian opposition movements in coordinating politically.
Iran, he noted, is a multi-ethnic country whose future stability will depend on establishing a democratic system that includes all its communities.
“The path and roadmap for rebuilding Iran must be based on the participation of all ethnic groups,” Azizi said. “Iran is a multi-ethnic society.”
For now, he added, Kurdish fighters remain in a state of readiness but are holding back.
“We possess the ability and capacity,” Azizi said. “But making a decision to enter Iranian Kurdistan is not straightforward at this moment.”