Kurdish insurgents urge democratic uprising as Iran-Israel strikes escalate

IRAN – When Israel launched heavy strikes on June 13 against Iranian nuclear and military sites, it set off the fiercest confrontation between the two foes in years. Iran’s counterattacks have so far failed to halt the bombardment, prompting fears that what began as a tit-for-tat exchange could expand into a broader regional war. 

Amid this volatile backdrop, the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) on Saturday issued a public statement framing the crisis not merely as a state-to-state conflict but as a moment of reckoning for Iran’s embattled regime. PJAK, an armed Kurdish group outlawed by Tehran, insisted that the strikes represent a “final ultimatum” from global powers seeking to dismantle the Mollah regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet it warned that ordinary Iranians—already reeling from economic collapse and political repression—should not be forced to choose between foreign bombs and domestic dictatorship. 

“This is a war of power and conflicting interests, not a war of liberation,” the statement declared. PJAK faulted the Islamic Republic’s expansionist policies and heavy-handed governance, arguing that only a homegrown democratic revolution—embodied in the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom)—can secure genuine freedom for Iranians. 

Unlike most of its past communiqués, Saturday’s announcement placed equal emphasis on military self-defense and civilian mobilization. PJAK called on Kurdish political factions to shift from party rule toward “popular self-governance,” and urged all Iranians—particularly women—to build support networks, rescue committees and financial cooperatives able to mitigate the war’s human toll. “Through complete solidarity, they can minimize the destructive impact of war on each other,” the group said.   

Analysts say PJAK’s call signals a growing impatience among Kurdish nationalists, who have traditionally focused on autonomy within Iran’s mountainous northwest. Dr. Shirin Alizadeh, a Middle East specialist at the University of Oslo, noted that Tehran’s “brutal crackdown” on dissent since the 2022 protests has driven Kurdish leaders to seek new political alliances—and to recast internal resistance as integral to regional upheaval.   

Whether PJAK’s appeal will resonate beyond its mountain strongholds remains unclear. For now, the conflict shows no sign of abating: both Tehran and Jerusalem have vowed to press on until “the other side pays a higher price.” But by tying the international crisis to a domestic struggle for democracy, PJAK has staked its claim to what it calls “the only path to lasting peace”—one rooted not in bombs or sanctions, but in the direct participation of ordinary Iranians.

Statement by PJAK concerning the conflict between Iran and Israel

Address to the Public:
Since June 13, 2025, Israel has launched heavy attacks on the nuclear, military, and command centers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, targeting facilities and figures associated with the… pic.twitter.com/e2mAUZh1dk

— حزب حیات آزاد کوردستان (@pjak_kurdistan) June 14, 2025