Western Iran clashes (2016–2023)

Western Iran clashes
	Part of Kurdish separatism in Iran and Iran–PJAK conflict
Date	19 April 2016 – c. August 2023; (7 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 6 days)
Location	Iran (Iranian Kurdistan) Kurdistan Province; Southern parts of West Azerbaijan Province; Spillovers in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Result	Status quo Iran and Iraq sign security agreement to relocate and disarm Kurdish groups in August 2023; Kurdish groups relocate at the request of the Kurdistan Regional Government, stop their cross-border attacks, and keep their arms; Later continuation in form of the 2026 Kurdish–Iranian crisis;
Belligerents
Iran	CCIKPP PDKI HDK (until 2022); ; Khebat; Komala–PIK; ; PAK; PJAK; Komala–KTP; Komala–CPI; Anti-government protesters; Alleged support:; Saudi Arabia;
Commanders and leaders
Ali Khamenei; Ebrahim Raisi; Masoud Pezeshkian; Abdolrahim Mousavi; Kioumars Heydari; Hamid Vahedi; Aziz Nasirzadeh (2018–2021); Hossein Salami; Mohammad Pakpour; Ahmad-Reza Radan; Yahya Rahim Safavi; Mohammad Ali Jafari (2016–2019); Hossein Ashtari (2016–2023); Hassan Rouhani (2016–2021)	Mustafa Hijri; Khalid Azizi; Qadir Qadri †; Sabah Rahmani †; Abdullah Mohtadi; Ibrahim Alizade; Omar Ilkhanizade; Abdullah Konaposhi; Hussein Yazdanpanah; Siamand Moini ; Zîlan Vejîn
Units involved
Iranian Armed Forces Islamic Republic of Iran Army; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; ; Islamic Republic of Iran Police Command Border Guard Command; ; Ministry of Intelligence;	HDK Peshmerga; PDKI Peshmerga; Komala Peshmerga; HAK-R; YRK
Strength
Unknown	KDPI: 1,000–1,500; HDK: 500 – 900; Komala: <1,000; PJAK: <3,000; PAK: 100–900;
Casualties and losses
Total Iranian Military Casualties (IRGC, Border Guards and Basij etc): 14[a] to 18–26+[b] killed; Basiji 2[a]–9[b] killed; Border guards: 6 killed[a]	PDKI 20+[b] to 33–40[a] killed; Komala 3[b] killed; Unidentified 3[a] killed PJAK 12–13[b] to 17[a] killed
	14 Iranian civilians killed; 6 Iraqi Kurdistan civilians wounded; 5 Kurdish activists executed; Hundreds displaced Total: 75–82[a] to 157–161+[b] armed men killed; and 19 Iranian and Iraqi civilians killed or executed
	a Iranian claim; b Kurdish rebels claim

The Western Iran clashes refer to military clashes between Kurdish opposition groups and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that began in April 2016 and largely subsided in 2023, when Kurdish groups relocated away from the Iran–Iraq border. Initiated by the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the clashes intensified when the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and Komalah joined the fight. In parallel, a leftist Iranian Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), resumed military activities against Iran in 2016, following a long period of stalemate.

The 2016 clashes came following a background of what the PDKI described as "growing discontent in Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan)". A commander of the PAK's military wing described their engagement and declaration of hostilities against the Iranian government were due to the fact that "the situation in eastern Kurdistan had become unbearable, especially with the daily arbitrary executions against the Kurds [in Iran]."