Nine Members of Komala Killed in Iranian Missile Attack

On the morning of Friday, July 17, 2026, the Islamic Republic of Iran launched a deadly missile attack against bases and headquarters belonging to the members of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

This attack, which forms part of the Iranian authorities’ continuing campaign of cross-border violence, intimidation, and repression, resulted in the deaths of nine members of Komala and left several others seriously wounded.

The National Center of Eastern Kurdistan extends its deepest condolences to the families, relatives, friends, and comrades of those who lost their lives.

Victims of the Attack

1. Siawan Niki Kha
2. Yasin Gyanpour
3. Zakaria Faqi Hassan
4. Ahmad Mahmoudi
5. Farhad Qamari
6. Reza Sadeghi
7. Sina Saferi
8. Soroush Nasri
9. Kasra Rahmanzadeh

On the same day, Iranian forces reportedly launched eight offensive drones towards Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, further endangering civilians and escalating the threat to regional security.

A Continuing Campaign of Cross-Border Aggression

Since the beginning of the current regional military confrontation involving Iran, the United States, and Israel, the Islamic Republic has reportedly conducted more than 800 cross-border attacks against locations within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Nearly 700 of these attacks have reportedly targeted:

• Headquarters and bases belonging to political parties from Eastern Kurdistan;
• Residential areas and camps housing political activists and their families; and
• Iranian Kurdish refugees and displaced civilians who have sought safety in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Previous attacks have caused casualties among members, Peshmerga forces, and political cadres of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Komala organizations, the Kurdistan Freedom Party, and other Kurdish political movements.

The National Center of Eastern Kurdistan unequivocally condemns the missile and drone attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran and forces operating under its direction or influence.

These attacks violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iraq, undermine the security of the Kurdistan Region, endanger civilian populations, and deliberately spread fear among vulnerable refugees, displaced families, and political activists.

Iran’s Strategy of Domestic Repression and External Aggression

The National Center of Eastern Kurdistan considers the Islamic Republic of Iran to be one of the principal drivers of conflict and instability in the region.

To preserve its authoritarian rule, the Iranian regime has pursued two interconnected strategies:

1. Domestic repression

Within Iran, the authorities suppress demands for freedom through executions, arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, discrimination, internet restrictions, and the violent repression of peaceful protests.

The Kurdish people and other oppressed nations and communities within Iran have been disproportionately subjected to militarization, political persecution, economic marginalization, and systematic violations of their fundamental rights.

2. External aggression

Beyond Iran’s borders, the regime exports instability through missile and drone attacks, proxy armed groups, political interference, assassinations, and military operations in neighboring countries.

By creating external crises and presenting itself as being under permanent threat, the Iranian authorities seek to divert international attention from their profound domestic legitimacy crisis and the demands of the peoples of Iran for freedom, justice, equality, and accountable government.

Urgent Appeal Under International Law

The National Center of Eastern Kurdistan urgently calls upon the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, democratic governments, international human-rights organizations, and humanitarian institutions to end their silence and take immediate and concrete action.

1. Defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq

Repeated missile and drone attacks conducted from Iranian territory against locations in Iraq may constitute a serious violation of the prohibition on the threat or use of force contained in Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations.

The international community must demand an immediate end to these attacks and support an independent investigation into their circumstances, targets, casualties, and possible violations of international law.

Those responsible for ordering, facilitating, or carrying out unlawful attacks must be identified and held accountable through appropriate international legal, diplomatic, and economic measures.

2. Establish an independent international investigation

The United Nations and relevant international institutions must establish an independent fact-finding mechanism to investigate:

• The attacks of July 17, 2026;
• Previous Iranian missile and drone attacks in the Kurdistan Region;
• Attacks against refugee camps, residential areas, and political organizations;
• Civilian deaths and injuries resulting from these operations; and
• The involvement of Iranian state institutions and Iran-aligned armed groups.

Evidence must be documented and preserved so that those responsible can be held accountable.

3. Protect refugees, displaced families, and political activists

Kurdish political refugees, asylum seekers, activists, former Peshmerga members, and their families living in the Kurdistan Region face a serious and foreseeable threat to their lives.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Federal Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the wider international community must adopt urgent protection measures, including:

• Relocating vulnerable families away from areas repeatedly subjected to attack;
• Strengthening physical protection around civilian camps and residential communities;
• Providing emergency medical and humanitarian assistance;
• Ensuring that refugees and asylum seekers are not forcibly returned to places where their lives or freedom would be endangered;
• Accelerating resettlement and humanitarian-admission procedures for individuals facing immediate threats; and
• Preventing the sharing of sensitive personal information that could expose refugees or political activists to surveillance, abduction, or assassination.

Regardless of Iraq’s treaty status under the 1951 Refugee Convention, Iraqi authorities and international organizations have a clear humanitarian responsibility to protect people under their jurisdiction from foreseeable violence and persecution.

4. Condemn attacks against civilian and political refugee communities

The international community must publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran’s targeting of political organizations, refugee communities, residential camps, and civilian infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Silence in the face of repeated attacks risks being interpreted by the Iranian authorities as permission to continue and expand their cross-border operations.

5. Impose targeted accountability measures

We call for targeted sanctions against Iranian military, intelligence, and political officials responsible for planning, authorizing, financing, or executing cross-border missile and drone attacks.

Such measures should include:

• Travel bans;
• Asset freezes;
• Restrictions on entities involved in Iran’s missile and drone programs;
• Measures against institutions financing cross-border armed operations; and
• Legal proceedings wherever jurisdiction permits.

These measures must be carefully designed to hold decision-makers accountable without worsening the humanitarian suffering of ordinary people in Iran.

6. Support the legitimate rights of the peoples of Iran

We call upon democratic governments and international institutions to stand in solidarity with the diverse nations and communities within Iran and to support their legitimate demands for human rights, political participation, equality, freedom, and self-determination in accordance with international law.

The Kurdish people and other oppressed nations within Iran must not be treated merely as instruments in regional geopolitical rivalries. They are rights-bearing peoples whose voices, political aspirations, security, and human dignity must be respected.

Our Immediate Demands

The National Center of Eastern Kurdistan calls for:

1. An immediate end to all Iranian missile and drone attacks against the Kurdistan Region of Iraq;
2. An urgent investigation by the United Nations into the July 17 attack and all previous cross-border attacks;
3. Immediate protection and relocation measures for refugees and political activists facing imminent danger;
4. Emergency humanitarian and medical assistance for the wounded and the families of those killed;
5. Accountability for Iranian officials and affiliated armed groups responsible for unlawful attacks;
6. Formal consideration of the attacks by the United Nations Security Council;
7. Stronger international action to protect the sovereignty of Iraq and the security of the Kurdistan Region; and
8. Meaningful international support for the human rights and legitimate political aspirations of the Kurdish people and all oppressed peoples within Iran.

The missile attack of July 17, 2026, must not be treated as an isolated incident. It forms part of a broader pattern of cross-border violence, political intimidation, and systematic targeting of Kurdish opposition groups, refugees, and displaced families.

Failure to respond decisively will encourage further attacks, place additional civilian lives at risk, undermine the sovereignty of Iraq, and deepen instability throughout the Middle East.

The international community must act before more lives are lost.

Silence is not neutrality when refugees, civilians, and political activists are being targeted across international borders. Silence enables impunity.

The National Center of Eastern Kurdistan
July 17, 2026 — 25 Pushper 2726