Kurdish Democratic Party

One of the main political parties of Kurdish Iran, the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), is headed by Massoud Barzani, who is now the President of Iraq. While it is now in an alliance, it long competed with Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

It was formed in 1946, under the leadership of Mullah Mustalafa-al-Barzani, in Soviet occupied land in Northern Iran. He established a territory in this region called the Republic of Mahabad. In the 1960s, they formed an autonomous region in Saddam's Iraq; its strength is in the northern governerates of Dohuk and Arbil.

As of 2001, Bob Woodward described said the KDP controlled the lucrative flow of trucks from Saddam's Iraq into Turkey, and was "not altogether eager for regime change." It was a strong ally to U.S. covert operators in inducing regime change.