The Organization of Kurdish Muslim Peshmergas (Persian: سازمان پیشمرگان کرد مسلمان; Sāzmān-e Pīšmargān-e Kord-e Mosalmān),کابوس اوین: خاطرات بازداشتگاه اوین، بند 350, عرفان قانعى‌فرد, pp. 60, .اقوام ایرانی یا ملیت‌های ایران: یکپارچگی یا تجزیه در بستر چالش قومیت و ملیت، کامیل احمدی، pp. 163, . also known as the Muslim Peshmerga,The Last Mufti of Iranian Kurdistan: Ethnic and Religious Implications in the Greater Middle East, Ali Ezzatyar, 2016, pp. 149, . or Islamic Peshmerga, is a militia group formed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian Revolution to recruit Kurds during the 1979 Kurdish revolts and the Iran–Iraq War.
History The Iranian government formed the Muslim Peshmerga with the idea of partially acknowledging ethnic identity, while capitalizing on the anti-communist stance in traditional conservative Kurdish society. While intended to mostly recruit Sunni Kurds, most of its members were tribal mercenaries or Shia Kurds. There were reports that some of the group pledged allegiance to Ahmad Moftizadeh, although he disassociated from the group.The Last Mufti of Iranian Kurdistan: Ethnic and Religious Implications in the Greater Middle East, Ali Ezzatyar, 2016, pp. 149-150, . The Iranian government also established the militia because it had no choice but to recruit local Kurds. Many of those who joined were formerly in the KDPI and Komala.The Structure of Kurdish Society and the Struggle for a Kurdish State, Hussein Tahiri, 2007, pp. 157, . The Muslim Peshmerga was seen as an attempt to divide the Kurds and create enemies within. Although the Kurdish tribes were drastically weakened by the policies of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Islamic Republic promoted tribalism to weaken the Kurdish movement in the 1980s, by sponsoring and arming the tribes to fight the political groups. They were integrated into the security forces and trained by the IRGC.Kurdish Politics in Iran: Crossborder Interactions and Mobilisation Since 1947, Allan Hassaniyan, 2021, pp. 147, .
The concept of a local Kurdish militia independent from the IRGC and government institutions was supported by many in the Council of the Islamic Revolution, especially Ali Khamenei. With the formation of the Muslim Peshmerga in Kermanshah in 1979, other branches were organized in various other Kurdish cities such as Paveh, Javanrud, Kamyaran, and Marivan, and the group began recruiting locals.شکل گیری بحران کردستان و سازمان پیشمرگان مسلمان کرد، ص ٢٧، نبی اله روحی، فصلنامه مطالعات بسیج، سال دهم، شماره 34، بهار 1386. The fighting between Iran and the Kurdish separatists was at its highest intensity at the time the Muslim Peshmerga was founded. The Iranian government tried to gain as much support as possible from ethnic minorities by relying on various methods, among them were the formation of the Muslim Peshmerga, affiliated with the IRGC, and the recruitment of Kurds into the IRGC. The Iranian government also promoted Sunni-Shia brotherhood, including the idea of "Unity Week", formalized by the decrees of Hussein-Ali Montazeri and Ruhollah Khomeini, forming alliances with certain Sunni clerics. To gain support from the poor, they also gave charity through the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, Jihad of Construction, and rural and tribal cooperatives. The Muslim Peshmerga is divided across three major IRGC corps. Those in Urmia were part of the Hamzeh Seyyed ol-Shohada Corps, those in Sanandaj were part of the Beit-ol-Moqaddas Corps, and those in Kermanshah, as well as Ilam, were part of the Nabi Akram Corps. Some Peshmerga veterans under Mustafa Barzani, including Kurds from both Iran and Iraq, later joined the Muslim Peshmerga.
Kurdish tribes historically participated in many conflicts, and after the Iranian revolution, both the rebel groups and Iranian government attempted to recruit the tribes, although the tribal participation shifted in favor of the government through the Muslim Peshmerga, largely by the efforts of Mohammad Boroujerdi. By 1982, the Muslim Peshmerga captured most of Iranian Kurdistan from the rebel groups.شکل گیری بحران کردستان و سازمان پیشمرگان مسلمان کرد، ص ٢٩، نبی اله روحی، فصلنامه مطالعات بسیج، سال دهم، شماره 34، بهار 1386. The Muslim Peshmerga played a major role in the Iranian government retaking Kamyaran, Bayangan, Paveh, Nowdeshah, and other parts of Kurdistan.شکل گیری بحران کردستان و سازمان پیشمرگان مسلمان کرد، ص ٣٢، نبی اله روحی، فصلنامه مطالعات بسیج، سال دهم، شماره 34، بهار 1386. Iranian government forces, along with the Muslim Peshmerga and the KDP Peshmerga of Iraqi Kurdistan, cleared out the remaining Iraqi soldiers, KDPI, and Komala in Iranian Kurdistan. Iran began capturing parts of Iraqi Kurdistan with the help of the PUK Peshmerga, despite concerns over their secular and nationalist ideologies.Iran at War: 1500-1988, Kaveh Farrokh, 2011, pp. 374-375, 396, .Kurdish Politics in Iran: Crossborder Interactions and Mobilisation Since 1947, Allan Hassaniyan, 2021, pp. 148, .Entessar, Nader (1992). Kurdish Ethnonationalism. Lynn Rienner Publishers. p. 132. . In one of his speeches, Ruhollah Khomeini praised the Muslim Peshmerga and likened them to the companions of Muhammad.شکل گیری بحران کردستان و سازمان پیشمرگان مسلمان کرد، ص ٣٠، نبی اله روحی، فصلنامه مطالعات بسیج، سال دهم، شماره 34، بهار 1386.During the 2026 Iran war, the Iranian government began reviving the Muslim Peshmerga. The Muslim Peshmerga mourned the death of Ali Khamenei, and threatened the "Israeli-American" militaries and the "deceived members of the counter-revolutionary groups" if the war spread to Iranian Kurdistan. It also claimed to have thousands of members ready to defend the western border. In June 2026, several members of the group were killed and wounded in attacks by Kurdish separatist groups.
References