Peregraf — The East Kurdistan Defense Units (YRK) — using PJAK's own term for Iran's Kurdish-populated northwest — is the armed wing of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). The group said Tuesday that four of its fighters were killed during clashes with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) near Mahabad in West Azerbaijan province, contradicting an earlier IRGC claim that six Kurdish fighters had been killed.
In a statement released on June 30, YRK said four of its members were "martyred" during what it described as an IRGC military operation and attack in the Mahabad area. The group also claimed that IRGC forces suffered both killed and wounded personnel during the fighting.
"Our stance toward these attacks will be different, and they will not go unanswered," the statement said.
Earlier Tuesday, the IRGC said six members of a Kurdish opposition group had been killed during clashes in the mountainous area between Mahabad and Piranshahr, after Iranian forces launched what they described as an intelligence-led operation against a team that had entered northwestern Iran to carry out sabotage attacks.
According to Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency, the IRGC said the group was ambushed and "completely destroyed" with artillery support. The force added that it recovered the bodies of four fighters along with weapons and military equipment.
Iranian state media also published photographs showing the bodies of three alleged Kurdish fighters, including one woman, as well as four firearms reportedly seized during the operation.
The exchange of statements marks the first time PJAK's military wing has confirmed casualties from the clashes. However, the group rejected the IRGC's account of the battle and asserted that Iranian forces also suffered losses, without providing casualty figures or evidence.
The fighting came days after another armed confrontation near Mahabad, and two days after unidentified gunmen attacked a security checkpoint near Baneh in Kurdistan province, killing two members of Iran's security forces and wounding two others. No group has claimed responsibility for that attack.
Security tensions have remained elevated across Iran's Kurdish regions in recent months. Iranian authorities have increased military deployments along the border and have repeatedly accused Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq's Kurdistan Region of carrying out attacks inside Iran.
The IRGC has also continued missile and drone strikes against bases of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, insisting that Baghdad and Erbil must disarm or expel the groups from their territory.