Rebwar Karimiann, Senior Member of Komala Party, Killed in Border Clash in Iran

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the commander of the border guards announced the death of Rebwar Karimiann, a senior member of the Komala Party, in a border clash. According to Rudaw network, the "Komala Workers Party of Kurdistan" confirmed the death of this senior member. The public relations office of the Hamzeh Ground Force of the IRGC reported on Thursday evening, September 29, that there was a clash with "a terrorist team entering the country" at the Marivan border and stated that one of the deceased was Rebwar Karimiann, "one of the leaders" of the Komala Party. The IRGC's statement mentioned that "several members of the team were killed and wounded" and their equipment was seized. Earlier, Ahmad Ali Goudarzi, the commander of the border guards, announced the death of Rebwar Karimiann in a clash with border guards. He stated that the border guards believed these individuals were smugglers, but as soon as the command to stop was issued, the attackers shot at them. Rudaw, a television network in Iraqi Kurdistan, also confirmed the death of Rebwar Karimiann, referring to him as the "head of the military commission" of the party. According to Rudaw and the party, Rebwar Karimiann was "born in 1980 in the village of Darsaran in Marivan" and "had been cooperating with this party since 2001." The Hengaw human rights organization reported that this clash occurred about 10 kilometers southwest of Marivan city, near the villages of Skol and Sianaw, and the IRGC shelled the area. According to some Kurdish media, including the Kurdpa website, the clashes continued from 3 AM until the afternoon on Thursday with the firing of mortars and artillery. The "Komala Workers Party of Kurdistan" is an armed opposition party to the Islamic Republic that split from the "Komala" in 2007. The Islamic Republic has increased pressure on the Kurdistan region of Iraq in the past two years to limit the activities of Iranian parties. These parties played an active role in calling for strikes and protests in Kurdish cities in Iran following the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in the morality police. Less than ten days ago, Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, visited the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and regional officials reiterated that they would not allow this area to be used as a base to threaten neighboring countries. About a week prior to this visit, several Komala party forces were evacuated from their camps in the border areas of the Kurdistan region with Iran and transferred to the Surdash camp, 40 kilometers from the Iranian border. In March 2023, Iran and Iraq signed a security agreement that stipulated Tehran would give Iraq until September 28, 2023, to disarm Iranian Kurdish parties based in the Kurdistan region and close their military camps. However, according to information received last September from individuals close to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the bases of the Kurdish parties in border areas have been completely evacuated. According to these informed individuals, forces stationed at the border bases were moved to camps under the supervision of the United Nations. In late July of this year, Iran's judiciary provided a list to the Iraqi government, including about 120 leaders and members of Kurdish parties opposed to the Islamic Republic based in the Kurdistan region, requesting their extradition. One of the individuals who was recently handed over to the Iranian security agencies was Behzad Khosravi, a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, residing in Sulaymaniyah. Two members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan told Radio Farda that Behzad Khosravi, who lived in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, was arrested by the region's security forces about a week before being handed over to the Iranian security agencies.