Iraq – Kurdish resistance to Iran’s regime | DW Documentary

Iraq – Kurdish resistance to Iran’s regime | DW Documentary

The death of the young Iranian Kurdish woman xam Masa amini triggered an unprecedented wave of protests in Iran she was arrested by the morality police in tran in September 2022 for allegedly wearing a poorly fitting Veil the uprising shook the regime which responded with violent Repression to escape the repression many Iranian Kurds have fled to the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq A Passage through the Zagros Mountains in view of the Iranian border Towers is a common Escape Route for the Kurds who fled to Iraq in recent years around 10,000 according to Germany’s un Refugee Aid the situation at the border is very tense while filming the Iranian control

Towers we were briefly arrested and interrogated by the Secret Service of the Kurdish authorities in Northern Iraq on September the 19th 2023 a deadline set by Iran expired it stated that by this date the Iraqi government and the Kurdish authorities in Iraq must disarm the Iranian Kurdish opposition

Groups and transfer them to locations far from the border with Iran these groups include the Democratic party of Iranian Kurdistan the dpk every year dozens of young people join the party’s military forces the pesh magaga the young Kurds are undergo tough military training since the violent protests the Iranian regime has felt

Even more threatened by this resistance group we met a group of peshmerga living in the mountains in a secret DP K Camp they hide here from possible missile and drone attacks from Iran hold on among them is Fana she’s been here for four years and

Serves as a kind of role model for new young female Fighters 19-year-old Ro only left Iran a few months ago the bloody demonstrations in the fall of 2022 left a deep impression on her she still has the footage on her phone we took this photo during a visit to the

Cemetery of the Marty Shah the people pictured here were all tortured during the Gina Revolution I lost many friends at the rallies in the Kurdish regions of Iran one of my best friends fell as a martyr at the time I was afraid that they would arrest and torture

Me because of my gender and my beliefs but I wasn’t afraid of death it’s true that we’re far away from our families and our sisters but here we’re all very close to each other we sleep and eat together we do everything together this solidarity helps us to

Live my family suspected that I would leave one day but I didn’t tell them when one day when they were asleep I looked at them and left I wanted to become a PGA with the duty to protect my people in my country we passed by here a few days ago

On the way back to the base I led the way at the front the phrase woman life Freedom originated in Kurdistan it spread from the Kurdish regions to the cities of Iran and then all over the world these words show that women can make a difference none of this would have been

Possible without women many Iranian women risked their lives in the protests which the regime suppressed with Armed Force women cutting off their hair as seen here at the funeral of those killed became a symbol of women’s rights and protest against the oppressive Regime I’d love to have hair like yours the Kurdish PESA in Iran are being trained to fight as soldiers against attacks by the Islamic Republic that’s despite Tran’s ultimatum that by September 2023 the Iraqi government in dad and the Kurdish authorities in Northern Iraq should completely disarm the opposition groups and move them far

Away from its border driven into a corner like this the only option for the dpk forces was to retreat into the mountains since then they’ve been hiding from Iranian surveillance in small groups most of them have no news of their family and were not there for the protests That Shook

Iran unlike roina who witnessed them firsthand tell us about the oppression during the protest they attacked the demonstrators with extreme brutality I saw my friend as out fall as a Marty on a rainy night so many people were injured as an exception roina and her comrades put down their weapons

Tonight when they sit together their conversations often revolve around what’s happening in their home country what happened to Gino was the trigger it drove people onto the streets where they Unleashed their anger against the regime unfortunately there are people who believe that this revolution is only about the way we

Dress but it’s about much more it’s about freedom of expression our rights the rights of the Kurds with everything I’ve experienced I think that from now on women will fight all injustices and will no longer remain Silent the Kurds live in constant fear of renewed attacks by Iran at the end of 2022 dozens of Iranian missiles and kamakazi drones hit the dpk bases civilian refugee camps were also hit dozens of people died in the Azadi Camp not far from the town of kisan jaac traces of the Iranian

Attacks can still be seen 29-year-old zna is a former pesh magaga on September the 28th 2022 he was seriously injured by a missile his wife died she was 8 months pregnant the Missile hit just a few meters away from me a woman who was next to me was killed I was thrown really

Far when I came to I immediately thought of my wife I got up to run to her I wanted to know if she’d been hurt I wanted to help her Z found his wife in front of their house her stomach and back riddled with shrapnel she held my hand and

Said then she lost Consciousness this is the result of the Iranian regime’s missile strikes which hit 150 met away from here her baby was in her womb the baby was born in hospital with lung injuries and didn’t survive every day a friend comes by to keep zya company weakened by his physical and

Mental trauma he tries to carry on living all he has left of his deceased wife are memories I have to go back to the doctor the day after tomorrow I’m having a second operation I have such a bad headache I’d like to go to her grave this afternoon

The constant threats from the Iranian government and the growing pressure on the Kurdish troops are of great concern to them I’d rather stay in the camp than go out where the Iranian regime could murder me at any moment several party members were recently murdered near their homes the dpk says

Iranian agents are behind this in ail the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Northern Iraq the growing influence of Iran can be felt the future of the autonomous region seems uncertain the Iranian ultimatum to disarm the opposition groups has Amplified the tension among the pesh Maga entrenched in remote locations they

Observe every movement in the sky 21-year-old aen took up arms four years ago she and her units changed their location every day to avoid being targeted by air strikes from the Iranian regime I’ve slept there under the Rocks I spent the night here but there’s always too much sun in the morning

Manuscript should we take the blankets with us the isolation and lack of means within the group make Logistics difficult a comrade has announced his arrival hello how are you we’re waiting for you have you brought the material we were waiting for the pesh Maga are fighting for the

Survival of their party in Exile the dpk is popular among Kurds in Iran but has only limited resources still there’s enough to supply its Fighters despite having no heavy weapons aen and her comrades are trying to arm themselves against possible ground attacks I crossed the border illegally because I

Want to fight for freedom and the rights of the people one day around midnight I left home I remember my father Lying by the stove drinking tea and watching TV my mother and sister was sitting with him that’s my last image of them aen is very worried as an armed

Member of the opposition she’s endangering the lives of her relatives in Iran she tries to find out about the situation in her country via the opposition TV channel Iran International in London reception’s gone as party members our communication has to be very minimal the phones and WhatsApp messages

Of our relatives in Iran are being tapped if you contact them they’ll get into trouble women and men living together in the mountains is a symbol of equality that does not exist in Iran here men and women are equal in all areas solidarity has a high value regardless of gender and everyone enjoys

The same respect geographically Kurdistan is centrally located in the Middle East surrounded by Iran turkey Iraq and Syria that’s why our people are spread across these countries the countries plunder our resources and wage war on our territory our fight will continue until we win our rights the most important thing is our

Fight for Humanity and our dignity there are many camps around eil with refugees from the Kurdish regions of neighboring Iran some have existed for decades the jzn KH Camp holds civilian sympathizers of the DP K along with the threat of Iranian air strikes there’s a constant fear of Oppression against their families in [Applause] Iran Ali a 52-year-old cleric fled Iran several years ago for his sermons against the regime he was punished with 200 lashes and imprisonment he was able to Escape this is a refugee camp for CS from Iran around 500 people live here I’m responsible for mediating between the families most of them were pers or tortured by the Islamic Republic of Iran this clearly shows the whole world that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a barbaric

Regime it violates all basic rights if someone from the camp calls his family and the Islamic regime finds out about it the relative can be arrested and punished in Iran I don’t know if my son had any contact with political or organizations but after a phone call with me he was

Arrested he got 5 years in prison he was released after three years the people here have largely organized their own lives in the camp there’s even a small infirmary how are things today we have a lot of patients coming by like every day do we lack medication yes some have run

Out okay thank you very much Ali’s role is crucial for solidarity in the camp he pays regular visits to the families living here Mar Maria hello how’s it going can I come in what’s the situation like for you didn’t you want to leave the camp after the Iranian

Threats we don’t know where to go scared what are you planning to do I don’t sleep at night why so that I’m ready to protect my children the Iranian regime tortured my father to death in prison we had just celebrated a wedding with lots of guests my father was denounced as a political

Activist that’s when the Iranian regime attacked us guests were injured while dancing one of my brothers was killed another is now disabled the people in the camp suffer from their status as refugees they feel tolerated by the autonomous Kurdish government in Iraq but nothing more Ali prays with some of the

Residents as evening Falls conversations about life in the camp mingle with discussions about politics it’s at meal times that Ally and the other residents most deeply miss their relatives who stayed in Iran uh to so have you been able to reach the family recently no it’s impossible to reach

Them they’re too afraid to these are the rallies in Saku During the ginaa Revolution when the first Iranian missiles hit the refugee camp near kisan jaac in September 2022 the staff at the UN run School were able to evacuate the children at the last moment 5 minutes later a missile also hit the School the school my son was supposed to attend was destroyed the Islamic Republic of Iran doesn’t even stop at children my dream was to live in peace with my wife and my son watching him go to school with other children I had to leave Iran because of my political

Activities I dreamed of a free and Democratic Kurdistan where Tran’s regime had no say Democrat Most of the people who became victims of the Iranian regime and their bombs lie in these Graves the last time I saw my wife was in the mortuary the only photo I was able to take of my son was when they took him away for the burial all my dreams were destroyed

I still can’t believe she’s gone This Is War despite all the risks for themselves and their relatives in Iran these men and women are not giving up up they will continue to fight against the regime each in their own Way the threats from Iran are compounded by the almost daily attacks by the Turkish Army in the region they also persecute Kurdish opposition groups I hope we win I think things will look very different in Iran in 10 years time it will be very difficult and there’s a lot of

Pressure but if the women stay active I’m sure we’ll Win Forey hey how hey D hey D hey every evening a and her unit look for a safe place for the night according to a Kurdish proverb the Kurds only allies are the mountains to this day Kurdish people are coming together and fighting for their Freedom

Small groups of Kurdish men and women from Iran are camped out in the mountains of Iraq. The exiles have joined armed resistance units and are determined to fight the Iranian regime.
The documentary follows the fate of Kurds who have taken to the mountains over the Iraqi border after fleeing Iran. Some belong to the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran. Targeted by Iranian rocket and drone attacks, the armed groups hide out in secret camps. Iran’s high-tech surveillance systems also make it extremely difficult to stay in touch with their relatives back home. Some of the resistance fighters played a leading role in the protest movement sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini. The young Kurdish woman died after being detained by Iran’s so-called morality police for allegedly breaching the country’s mandatory hijab laws for women. Last year, Tehran issued the Iraqi government in Baghdad with an ultimatum, setting them a deadline to disarm Kurdish opposition groups and relocate them from the border. But some refuse to leave.

[Editor’s Note: On 16 January 2024, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. At least four people were killed in the strike. In a statement released later the Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out the attack on Israeli “spy headquarters”. Local authorities have condemned the strike and dismissed the claims as baseless. For more information visit: https://p.dw.com/p/4bHjt and https://www.dw.com/en/middle-east/s-14207 ]

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