Iraq: Kurdish resistance to Iran’s regime | DW Documentary

Small groups of Kurdish men and women from Iran are camped out in the mountains of Iraq. The exiles have joined armed resistance units and are determined to fight the Iranian regime. The documentary follows the fate of Kurds who have taken to the mountains over the Iraqi border after fleeing Iran. Some belong to the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran. Targeted by Iranian rocket and drone attacks, the armed groups hide out in secret camps. Iran’s high-tech surveillance systems also make it extremely difficult to stay in touch with their relatives back home. Some of the resistance fighters played a leading role in the protest movement sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini. The young Kurdish woman died after being detained by Iran’s so-called morality police for allegedly breaching the country’s mandatory hijab laws for women. Last year, Tehran issued the Iraqi government in Baghdad with an ultimatum, setting them a deadline to disarm Kurdish opposition groups and relocate them from the border. But some refuse to leave. [Editor’s Note: On 16 January 2024, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. At least four people were killed in the strike. In a statement released later the Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out the attack on Israeli “spy headquarters”. Local authorities have condemned the strike and dismissed the claims as baseless.