Iran Launches Drone Strikes and Ambushes Against Kurdish Groups

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a wave of precision drone and missile strikes against Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and conducted deadly ambushes within Iran throughout early July 2026. The escalation included the use of Hadid-110 suicide drones against the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) Dikla camp near Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. In a separate operation near Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province, an IRGC ambush killed five PDKI fighters, though the PDKI reported six deaths over four days of clashes.

These actions follow a surge in militant activity targeting Iranian security forces. A new group, Xore Heva, claimed responsibility for killing two IRGC members in Paveh as retaliation for the 2022 uprising. Additional violence saw two police officers killed in Baneh and clashes in West Azerbaijan province that left four East Kurdistan Defense Units (YRK) fighters dead. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that Iran responded with at least 50 missile and drone strikes against opposition targets in Iraqi Kurdistan, occurring after a June 17 peace deal between the U.S. and Iran.

The violence has also extended to individual targets, including the death of Kurdistan Freedom Party cadre Soran Mohammad in an Erbil hotel. Tehran maintains that these Kurdish organizations are national security threats allegedly supported by the United States and Israel.