After the arrival of the Barzanis to Iran and following the establishment of the Republic of Kurdistan in the city of Mahabad, that nascent republic faced a series of problems and difficulties, the most important of which were the battles that took place between the Peshmerga of the Republic of Kurdistan and the Iranian army and the hostile tribes of Kurdistan. When those battles occurred, the Peshmerga forces of Mustafa Barzani most of whom were from the Barzani tribe, were able to play a very effective role in those battles that took place between the forces of the Republic of Kurdistan and the Iranian army and the hostile Kurdish tribes. The importance and military role of the Barzani Peshmerga forces were reflected even more when they were able to deal a fatal blow to the Iranian army in the Battle of Qarawe. After the end of the Battle of Qarawe, on 20 May 1946, once again, one kilometer from the defense line of the city of Saqqez, fighting and clashes broke out between the Iranian army forces and a part of the Peshmerga of the Barzani forces and the forces of the Republic of Kurdistan. As a result of that battle, the forces of the Republic advanced toward fortress number 2 of the Saqqez defense line.
At that time, the commander of the Iranian force units, named Captain Khosrawi, who was himself from the city of Sanandaj, went with himself and several soldiers toward the heights of that area to be informed of the Situation, but he faced an attack by the Peshmerga of the Republic of Kurdistan. He and two soldiers were killed, and three sergeants and one soldier were wounded, and one soldier was also taken prisoner while wounded. After that defeat, the psychological state of the Iranian forces in that area completely collapsed. Therefore, at the beginning of June 1946, General Razmara, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army, came to the Saqqez area with three army battalions consisting of 500 people, who were supported by artillery, tanks, and aircraft, and stationed there. In response to that position of the Iranian army, the Peshmerga forces of the Republic of Kurdistan had gathered a force of 13000 people between Saqqez and the Iraq border to defend against any possible enemy attack. Of that force, 1200 people were on the battlefield, and their commander Mustafa Barzani was, and 900 Barzanis were with Sheikh Ahmed Barzani, but that force was not on the battlefield.
With the arrival of the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army, who was one of the most powerful military and political figures in Iran, to the Saqqez area, the importance of that battle becomes clearer to us, because the Iranian generals could not accept in any way that with all the forces, weapons, and ammunition that the Iranian army had, they could not avoid defeat for the second time against a force of several hundred Peshmerga who only had light weapons in their hands. Therefore, we see that General Haj Ali Razmara, who was the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army and had a precise and complete knowledge of the Kurdish regions, came to the Saqqez area with a large force to assess the military Situation of the Republic of Kurdistan forces and look at the area to draw up a strategic plan for the Iranian forces so that those defeats would not be repeated in the future. With that victory that the Barzani Peshmerga forces achieved in their second battle, the attention and view of the officials of the Republic of Kurdistan toward the Barzanis increased in such a way that in the future that force became the backbone of the Republic of Kurdistan, and without consulting and seeking the opinion of the commanders of the Barzani forces, and especially Mustafa Barzani they would not do anything.
Sources:1- Najafqoli Pessian, Death Was, Return Was Also (History of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan and the Komala Party of Kurdistan), second edition, Tehran, Joint Stock Printing Company, 1328.
2- Mirza Muhammad Amin Manguri, Political History of the Kurds from 1914 to 1958, part one, second edition, Sulaymaniyah, Roon Printing House, 2000.
3- William Eagleton Jr., The Republic of 1946 Kurdistan, Seyed Mohammad Samadi, Mahabad, 1361.