Four IRGC Forces Killed In Clashes With Kurdish Group In Northwestern Iran

According to Hengaw on Friday, the skirmish took place between IRGC forces and fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in areas between Senji and Mateh-Kharpeh villages near the town of Salmas in West Azarbaijan Province Thursday evening.

The report said at least another four IRGC members were injured in the clashes and taken to Hospital in Salmas but there is no mention of possible casualties on the Kurdish side.

No media close to the Revolutionary Guard or the Kurdistan Workers' Party has published any news about the incident. Iran International cannot independently confirm the report. 

The Islamic Republic calls the Kurdish armed groups in the western provinces of Iran, "terrorist groups" or "anti-revolutionary" but these groups say that the goal of their armed campaign is "defending the rights of the Kurds".

Generally, the Kurdish parties − including Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) − favor Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran. Pejak (the Free Life Party of Kurdistan), an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), formed in Turkey but also based in northern Iraq, has generally favored a unified, independent Kurdistan uniting Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.

In June, a senior member of the Organization of the Iranian Kurdistan Struggle accused the Islamic Republic of being behind an assassination attempt on fellow fighter Akbar Sanjabi in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.