Iran Strikes Kurdish Opposition Camp in Northern Iraq After Ceasefire Deal Announcement

Iran launched a drone attack late Tuesday against a camp of Iranian Kurdish opposition forces near Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, the first Iranian strike since the announcement earlier this week of an end to the war with the United States. The target was the Zawiya Sipi camp near Koya, east of Erbil, according to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), which said the site houses families of its members.

The group said the camp has been hit repeatedly throughout the 40 days of fighting between Iran and the United States, and even after the ceasefire announced in early April. Kurdish officials now fear the new understandings between Washington and Tehran do not include an end to attacks on Kurdish opposition groups in the region. The attack came one day after an American official said the memorandum ending the war had already been signed by President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.

According to the Rudaw website, Kurdistan has taken at least 865 missiles and drones since the end of February through last week, with the number rising since then. The KDPI said Iran has attacked its family camps, medical facilities, and education centers with more than 138 missiles and drones since the end of February. Some of the projectiles in the war were launched by pro-Iranian militias from Iranian territory, but the group said Tuesday’s drone was fired from inside Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that the ceasefire with the US took effect as soon as it was announced and that only Lebanon had not yet entered a ceasefire, which he said would happen with the formal signing on Friday. That language reinforced Kurdish fears they were being left out, despite their traditional alignment with the United States, Israel, and Western countries. The report also said Israeli and American officials had previously discussed an initial plan to help Kurdish fighters enter Iran from northern Iraq, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly pressed Trump to cancel it.