Why Iran’s Sunni Kurdish Islamists Are Not Joining the Anti-Regime War
One of the misleading assumptions on the Iran war is that the Sunni Kurdish belt should naturally drift toward any…
The Pipeline Card: Why the KRG’s Strongest Lever May Be Its Most Dangerous
Iraq’s oil minister said today that Kirkuk crude would be re-exported within a week through the old federal Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline…
Iran’s Layered Counter-Strategy Aims to Close the Kurdish Corridor Before It Opens
Since the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran began on February 28, 2026, much of the outside commentary has fixated on…
Written by
Arivan
How the Strikes on Iraq’s Militias Followed the Country’s Divide
The pattern that emerged in the strikes on pro-Iran Iraqi militias between February 28 and March 11 was striking not only for the number of attacks but for where they…
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Arivan
Kurdish Gains in Syria Are Real. A Kurdish Region Is Not.
Several important developments in recent weeks have made the direction of the SDF-Damascus integration agreement much clearer, even if implementation remains gradual and incomplete. The broad contours of the deal…
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Arivan
Caught Between Trump and Tehran, the PUK Has Nowhere to Hide
The PUK has emerged as a central player in the U.S.-Israel push to arm Iranian Kurdish groups and allow them to use the Kurdistan Region as a launching pad for…
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Arivan
Iran to KDP and PUK Leaders: Let One Fighter Cross and We Strike You Directly
Iranian officials have warned KDP and PUK leadership that if one Iranian Kurdish fighter is allowed to cross the border into Iran and they find out, they will directly attack…
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Arivan
Airstrikes in Iran’s West Target Police Stations and Border Posts, Hinting at a Ground Strategy Built Around the Kurds
Tehran remains the main centre of strikes, but the more revealing pattern is unfolding in the west. The war now looks less like a single-front assault and more like a…
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Written by
Arivan
Who Comes First Where in Iranian Kurdistan
None of the Iranian Kurdish parties appears to command broad, province-wide mass support in the classic sense. Their relative weight is better understood geographically: which movement carries the strongest historic…
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Written by
Arivan
Iran’s Kurdish Opposition Unveils a New Alliance, but Leaves the Hard Questions Unanswered
Five Iranian Kurdish opposition parties have announced what they call the “Kurdistan Alliance,” a new framework intended to coordinate decision-making for Iranian Kurdistan. The announcement was made in the Kurdistan…
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