Six Kurdish fighters killed in IRGC ambush as clashes spread across western Iran
US-Kurdish Committee president says clash is not full uprising, but it's not 'business as usual' as Iran pressures opposition
By Efrat Lachter Fox News
Published July 2, 2026 4:53pm EDT
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday it killed five members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, while the Kurdish opposition group told Fox News Digital that six of its Peshmerga — a term commonly used for Kurdish fighters — were killed in what it described as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ambush in northwest Iran.
The clash marks another escalation in Iran’s Kurdish-majority west after days of reported attacks and clashes involving Iranian security forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kurdish armed factions.
It also underscores the current position of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups that recently were viewed by U.S. and Israeli officials as a possible pressure point against Tehran during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, but ultimately stayed out of the conflict amid mixed signals from Washington and pressure from both Iran and Turkey.
Majeed Gly, president of the American Kurdish Committee, told Fox News Digital that the latest clashes should not be read as a full-scale uprising, but also should not be dismissed as routine border violence.
"What I’m hearing is, this is not business as usual," Gly said. "This is not like periodic clashes on the border. This is operations, and it seems to be deep inside."
Gly said Kurdish frustration has grown sharply after months of Iranian attacks on Kurdish areas and opposition-linked sites, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He said the region has been hit by more than 850 attacks since February, leaving at least six civilians dead and dozens more wounded.
Hejar Berenji, the U.S. representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, or PDKI, confirmed to Fox News Digital that six PDKI Peshmerga were killed in a clash with IRGC forces in the Piranshahr area of Iranian Kurdistan.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had killed five members of the banned PDKI in northwest Iran, Reuters reported Thursday, citing state media. The IRGC said the group was ambushed after entering Iranian territory in mountainous border areas near Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan Province.
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