Guerillas affiliated with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI [6]) have for the past days been clashing with Iranian military forces in the area of Shino (Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan province), leaving a senior army commander dead. Iran's official media on Sept. 26 confirmed the killing of the commander, named as Sajad Takhti, by the guerilla force known as the Peshmerga of Iranian Kurdistan. The PDKI also confirmed that one of their fighters has been killed in the area. Fighting is also reported in the Kurdish city of Mariwan (Kordistan province) on the border of Iran and Iraq's Kurdistan Region. (BasNews [7], Sept. 27)
The fighting comes amid growing recognition that Iran is a de facto member of the Great Power convergence against ISIS [8], even if it has been denied de jure membership in the US-led coalition [9]. Iran was reportedly informed by the US [10] of the impending air-strikes on Syria, and assured that Syrian regime forces would not be targeted. This puts the Iraqi Kurdish leadership in the awkward position of having to betray the Iranian Kurds as the price of international aid in the fight against ISIS. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Sept. 26 became the latest Western leader [11] to visit Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani in Erbil, and pledge his government's support. (Kurdish Globe [12], Sept. 26)
