Kurdish Communist Party of Iran (Komala), not to be confused with Komala Islami Kurdistan (the Islamic Society of Kurdistan).

Komala's activities are mostly limited to Sanandaj, the capital of the Iranian province of Kurdistan. Bases of operation have been set up in Sulaymaniyah province in Iraq. Other operatives work overseas, in Canada, Europe and the United States.

The Kurdish Communist Party of Iran seeks a secular autonomous region under Kurdish control. It claims to be committed to improved workers' rights and equality among various groups.

The strength of Komala is unknown, but its numbers are believed to be small.

Komala has frequently cooperated with other socialist and communist Kurdish groups in Iran. In 1982, Komala joined with various Marxist groups, Communists for Unity and Struggle, the Union of Communist Militants and others to form the Communist Party of Iran. This coalition broke up in 2000.

The Kurdish Communist Party of Iran also has ties to Iraqi-based Kurdish groups such as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

A socialist branch of Komala split from the group in the late 1980s. Though that group also calls itself Komala, the factions do not cooperate with each other.

Kurdish forces conducted an unsuccessful rebellion in 1979. Komala and other Kurdish groups have been able to maintain some level of control over rural areas, and even occasionally in villages and towns. After 1982, it transferred most of its activities to Iraq.

Komala publishes a monthly magazine called the Peshraw.

Few details have emerged about the group's makeup and strength. Organizationally, Komala possesses three separate wings: a clandestine organization center dubbed the Takish is responsible for group development and communication; publications such as Peshraw promote Komala and the establishment of worker organizations; the Komala Peshmerga Force conducts military actions.

The group opposed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran, as well as the Islamic Republic proclaimed in 1979. Consequently, Komala was suppressed by both the shah and his successors.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard succeeded in putting down a 1979 insurrection after heavy fighting. Despite a potential opportunity provided by the Iran-Iraq war, Komala and other Kurdish groups did not align themselves with Saddam Hussein. By the end of the war, many Komala members had migrated from western Iran to Kurdish areas in northern Iraq.

Komala's fortunes have been closely tied with other Kurdish minority groups in the struggle for recognition in Iran, as well as in Iraq. Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003 helped provide a mechanism for the rebirth of Kurdish nationalism.

The 2004 ratification of the Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law, which recognized the existence of the Kurdistan region and its institutionsprompted Iranian Kurds to push for similar recognition. In 2004 and 2005, Komala supported Kurdish protests in Iranian Kurdistan. In the summer of 2005, there were several demonstrations in the Kurdish-populated areas of Iran, following the July shooting of Shavaneh Qaderi, a Kurdish activist.

Komala currently has a presence as an opposition party in Iran. The group also takes part at forums sponsored by the Kurdish expatriate community, mainly the Kurdish National Congress of North America.

Iran claimed in early 2010 that members of Komala were engaged in militant activities.

1969
Komala was founded.

1979
Komala, along with the Kurdish Democratic Party and Kurdish Fedayeen, participated in a failed revolt against the Ayatollah Khomeini.

1982
Komala united with other socialist and communist organizations in Iran to form the Communist Party of Iran. The group also began concentrating efforts in Iraq.

Late 1980s
Komala split into two groups: a hard-line communist group and a more liberal socialist faction. Although both groups continued to call themselves Komala, the communist group embraced more violent tactics.

1993
The Iranian air force began conducting aerial attacks against Kurdish targets in both Iran and Iraq.

2000
After several years of infighting, the Communist Party of Iran broke up, leading to the re-establishment of an independent Komala. Various member groups of the unified party retained their individual chains of command and organizational structures.

2001
July: Komala engaged in a gunfight with security forces, killing one Iranian policeman in the town of Baneh along the Iraqi border. Four other security personnel died in July in clashes with Kurdish groups.

2002
October: Tehran blamed Komala for the death of a Revolutionary Guard officer in the town of Sanandaj.

Nov. 5: Mostafa Jula and Ali Kak Jalil, both former members of Komala, were reportedly executed in the city of Marivan.

2003
January: Three Komala members were arrested for weapons-smuggling and plotting terrorist acts. They were eventually given life sentences or executed.

March 2: Two activists associated with Komala, Mohammad Golabi and Sussan al-Kanaan, were executed by the government.

September: Tehran announced that Komala no longer existed. On the other hand, the PUK said Komala was active and armed, but acknowledged that the communist Kurdish group had ceased military operations inside Iran.

2006
Komala joined two other Kurdish groups in Iran in demanding the overthrow of the regime in Tehran.

June: Komala participated in a conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Kurdish National Congress of North America, with Komala leader Abdullah Muhtadi calling for a united and democratic coalition of all opposition groups in Iran.

2007
May: Muhtadi said the U.S. position on the Kurdish presence in Iran was "confused." Saying he had met with American officials during the past year at the State Dept. and at other government agencies, Muhtadi contended that the U.S. had no overall strategy regarding the Iranian regime or the Kurdish situation.

July: Komala leader Muhtadi said the creation of a "Greater Kurdistan" or secession from Iran was unrealistic. He proposed the establishment of a "democratic, secular, federal Iran."

2009
April 7: Two factions operating under the Komala banner pledged to ban the use of anti-personnel mines. The Kurdistan Organization of the Communist Party of Iran and the Komala Party of Kurdistan signed the pledge with the Geneva Call, a disarmament group. Both groups had sporadically used anti-personnel mines in the past, according to Geneva Call.

2010
February: Iranian security forces killed three members of Komala in an ambush in West Azerbaijan. The government said the militants were responsible for the deaths of three policemen in December 2009.

Feb. 24: Iran claimed it foiled an attempted Komala bombing attack on a defense facility, alleging that U.S. forces in neighboring Iraq had supported the planned assault. Three Komala agents were arrested and two bombs concealed in loud speakers were recovered, the government said.

Feb. 27: Muhtadi accused the Iranian government of conducting a campaign of killings and arrests in Kurdish provinces. The Komala leader also complained that Britain and other Western governments were turning their backs on the Iranian Kurdish population.