Political crackdown on Kurdish political associations in Iran[13]
Ceasefire between Iran andPJAK established in September 2011, but fighting resumed in 2013
Renewed clashes betweenKDPI and Iranian military erupted in 2015
In 2022, after the merger of the two democratic parties and two Komale parties, and at the same time as the Kurdish opposition parties supportedIran's nationwide protests, a new round of conflicts began, which led to thebombing of the bases of the Kurdish parties by the Iranian government
Kurdish separatism in Iran[17] or theKurdish–Iranian conflict[18][19] is an ongoing[9][12][17][20] separatist dispute between theKurdish opposition in WesternIran and the governments of Iran[17] since the emergence ofReza Shah in 1918.[9]
The earliest Kurdish separatist activities in modern times refer to tribal revolts in today'sWest Azerbaijan Province of theImperial State of Iran, which began between the twoWorld Wars. The largest of these revolts were led bySimko Shikak, Jafar Sultan andHama Rashid. Many however, put the starting point of the organized Kurdish political-nationalist separatism at 1943,[12] when Komala (shortly after theKurdish Democratic Party of Iran) began their political activities in Iran with the aim to gain partial or complete autonomy in the Kurdish regions. Transformation from tribal to Kurdish political struggle in Iran took place in the aftermath of World War II, with the KDPI establishing theRepublic of Mahabad during the1946 Iran crisis.[12] TheUSSR-supported attempt to establish a Kurdish state in Western Iran failed.[12][21] More than a decade later, peripheral tribaluprisings[12] launched with KDPI support throughout 1966–7. In the most violent episode of the conflict, more than 30,000 Kurds died in the1979 rebellion and the consequentKDPI insurgency.[15] Though the KDPI's armed struggle ended in late 1996, another Kurdish armed organization emerged in Iran by the early 2000s. The ongoingIran-PJAK conflict started in 2004.[22]
Though Iran has not been as brutal against its ownKurdish population as its neighbouring countries, it has always staunchly opposed Kurdish separatism.[23]
TheSimko Shikak revolt was an armedOttoman-backed[24][25] tribal Kurdish uprising against theQajar dynasty ofPersia (Iran) from 1918 to 1922, led byKurdish chieftainSimko Shikak. This tribal rebellion is sometimes regarded as the first major bid for establishing anindependent Kurdish state inPersia,[26] but scholars view the revolt as an attempt by a powerful tribal chief to establish his personal authority vis-à-vis the central government throughout theregion.[27] While elements ofKurdish nationalism were present in this movement, historians agree these were hardly articulate enough to justify a claim that recognition of Kurdish identity was a major issue in Simko's movement, and he had to rely heavily on conventional tribal motives.[27] It lacked any sort of administrative organization and Simko was primarily interested inplunder.[26] HistorianErvand Abrahamian describes Simko as "notorious" formassacring thousands of Assyrians and "harassing" democrats.[28] Still, some Kurds today revere Simko as a hero of the independence movement.[20]
By 1926, Simko had regained control of his tribe and begun another outright rebellion against the state.[29] When the army engaged him, half of his troops defected to the tribe's previous leader and Simqu fled to Iraq.[29]
Jafar Sultan ofHewraman region took control of the region betweenMarivan and north ofHalabja and remained independent until 1925. After four years under Persian rule, the tribal leader revolted in 1929, but was effectively crushed.
Hama Rashid revolt
Hama Rashid revolt refers to a tribal uprising inPahlavi Iran during theSecond World War following theAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.[30] The tribal revolt erupted in the general atmosphere of anarchy throughout Iran, with its main faction led by Muhammed Rashid. The first stage of the revolt revolt lasted from late 1941 till April 1942 and the second stage began in 1944, but ultimately resulted in Rashid's defeat. It has been considered as one of the leading factors of the establishment of the Kurdish politicalindependence movement.
Qazi Muhammad and Mustafa Barzani during the 1946 events
The danger of fragmentation in modern Iran became evident shortly after theSecond World War when theSoviet Union refused to relinquishoccupied northwestern Iranian territory.[23]Iran crisis of 1946 included a separatist attempt by theKDP-I andcommunist groups[31] to establish aSovietpuppet government,[32][33][34] and declare theRepublic of Mahabad inIranian Kurdistan (today's southern part ofWest Azerbaijan Province). It arose along with another Soviet puppet state known as theAzerbaijan People's Government.[23][35] The state itself encompassed a very small territory, only includingMahabad and its adjacent cities. This state couldn't incorporate southern Iranian Kurdistan as it fell inside the Anglo-American zone and also failed to attract the tribes outside Mahabad to the nationalist cause.[23] As a result, when the Soviets withdrew from Iran in December 1946, government forces were able to enter Mahabad unopposed.[23] At least 1,000 died during the crisis.[12]
Iran crisis of 1946 included an attempt of the KDPI to establish an independent Kurdish-dominatedRepublic of Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan.[12] Afterwards,Marxist insurgencies led by theKDP-I andKomala continued for decades, but these two organization never advocated for a separate Kurdish state or greater Kurdistan as did thePKK inTurkey.[36][27][37][38]
During the mid-1960s, a series ofKurdish tribal disturbances erupted inWestern Iran as they were fed up by the revival of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-I).[9] In 1967-8, Iranian government troops suppressed a Kurdish revolt in Western Iran,[12] consolidating the previous Kurdish uprisings in the Mahabad-Urumiya region.
1979 rebellion
The1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran was an insurrection led by the KDPI andKomala in Iranian Kurdistan, which eventually became the most serious rebellion against the new Iranian regime. The rebellion ended in December 1982, with 10,000 killed and 200,000 displaced.[12]
Insurrection by the KDPI took place inIranian Kurdistan throughout the early and mid-90s, fueled by the assassination of itsleader in exile in July 1989. The KDPI insurrection ended in 1996, following a successful Iranian campaign of targeted assassinations of KDPI leaders and crackdown on its support bases in Western Iran. In 1996, the KDPI announced a unilateral ceasefire, and has since acted at a low profile before renewing clashes in 2015.[39]
Iran–PJAK conflict is an ongoing rebellion ofPJAK in which hundreds of Kurdish militants and Iranian forces as well as civilians have died, officially beginning from April 2004.[12] PJAK is based in the border area withIraqi Kurdistan and is affiliated with the MarxistPKK fromTurkey,[40] though PJAK themselves tend to neglect this alleged relation. Although sometimes described as an organization demanding human rights for Kurds in Iran, it is regarded as a separatist organization byIranian media and various Western analysts.[17][40][41] The PJAK goal is an establishment of Kurdish autonomy and according to Habeeb, they do not intend to pose any serious threat to the regime of the Islamic Republic.[17]
In one of the first actions of theObama administration, PJAK was declared a "terrorist organization".[40][41] PJAK and Iranian government agreed on a ceasefire deal following the 2011 Iranianoffensive on PJAK bases. After the ceasefire agreement, a number of clashes between thePJAK and theIRGC took place in 2012,[20] and by mid-2013, the fighting resumed in sporadic incidents, escalating in 2016.
In January 2014, Iranian forces killed a KDPI party member while he was disseminating leaflets.[42]
In September 2014, the KDPI engaged Iranian security for the first time in many years, killing at least 6 Iranian soldiers.[43] It was unclear whether this was a result of change of policy by theDemocratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (which avoided violence since 1996) or an isolated sequence of incidents.
In May 2015, a suspected Iranian attack (allegedly disguised as PKK fighters) on PJAK forces on the Iran–Iraqi Kurdistan border resulted in 6 killed—2 KDPI and 4 PKK[44] (or allegedly Iranian agents).
On 7 May 2015, ethnic Kurds rioted inMahabad,Iran, following the unexplained death of Farinaz Khosravani on 4 May 2015, a 25-year-old Kurdish hotel chambermaid. Unrest and violence spread to other Kurdish cities in Iran, such asSardasht, where police clashed with hundreds of protesters on 9 May 2015, where one protestor was reportedly killed.[45] Soran Khedri, a former PJAK official, stated that PJAK had attacked an Iranian checkpoint, killing two Iranian personnel.[46] According to ARA sources, as of 11 May, the death toll rose to 6 protesters killed.[47] The incidents prompted harsh responses from other Kurdish opposition parties, including theKurdistan Freedom Party and thePDKI.
In June 2015, a KDPI attack on the Revolutionary Guard forces reportedly left 6 people dead.[48]
The 2016 clashes came following a background of what thePDKI described as "a growing sense of discontent and alienation in Rojhelat".[50] The commander of the PAK military wing described their engagement and declaration of hostilities against the Iranian government were due to the fact that "the situation in eastern Kurdistan (Iranian Kurdistan) has become unbearable, especially with the daily arbitrary executions of Kurds [in Iran]".[51]
Iran has periodically launched strikes against the KDPI and other Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in the frontier of theKurdistan Region of Iraq. In March 2023, Iraqi Prime MinisterMohammed Shia' Al Sudani, who came to power via a coalition of Iranian-backed parties, signed a border security agreement with Iran to tighten up the frontier between the two countries. On 28 August, Iraq agreed to disarm and relocate these groups to camps nearMosul by 19 September.[52][53] However, according to theNew Arab, these groups have not been disarmed, nor does Iraq seem to have the capability to do so.[54]
^Reese Erlich, Robert Scheer (2016).Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis.Routledge. p. 133.ISBN978-1317257370.Morteza Esfandiari, the KDPI representative in the U.S., told me that KDPI had applied to get some of the 85 million dollars allocated to "promote democracy" in Iran in order to improve its satellite TV station. "We are friends with the United States. What other friends can we find in the world, other than the United States?"
^AYLIN ÜNVER NOI.The Arab Spring – its effects on the Kurds and the approaches of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq on the Kurdish issue. Gloria Center. 1 July 2012. "There is a long history of tension between the Kurds and the government in Iran. This began with Reza Shah Pahlavi recapturing the lands that Kurdish leaders had gained control of between 1918 and 1922."; "Iran fears that the creation of a semi-autonomous state in northern Iraq might motivate its own Kurdish minority to press for greater independence. However, Iran’s concern about Kurdish separatism does not approach the level of Turkey’s concern. Still, there have been repeated clashes between Kurds and Iranian security forces"[1]Archived 17 September 2012 at theWayback Machine
^abcdefghijkUniversity of Arkansas. Political Science department. Iran/Kurds (1943–present). Retrieved 9 September 2012.[2]Archived 25 January 2016 at theWayback Machine
^Iran: Freedom of Expression and Association in the Kurdish Regions. 2009. "This 42 page report documents how Iranian authorities use security laws, press laws, and other legislation to arrest and prosecute Iranian Kurds solely for trying to exercise their right to freedom of expression and association. The use of these laws to suppress basic rights, while not new, has greatly intensified since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in August 2005."[3]Archived 26 August 2014 at theWayback Machine
^abcElling, Rasmus Christian (2013).Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 312.ISBN978-0-230-11584-2.OCLC714725127.
^Shifrinson, Itzkowitz JR,The Kurds and Regional Security: An Evaluation of Developments since the Iraq War(PDF), MIT,archived(PDF) from the original on 12 May 2013, retrieved5 March 2014,More indicative of the PKK's growing power was its 2004 establishment of the Party for a Free Life in Iranian Kurdistan (PEJAK or PJAK) as a sister organization with the goal of fomenting Kurdish separatism in Iran by fostering Kurdish nationalism therein.
^Allen, William Edward David; Muratoff, Paul (1953).Caucasian battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian border, 1828–1921. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. p. 296.OCLC1102813.
^[5]Archived 23 July 2018 at theWayback Machine "in recent months, state media has reported that the north-west has been hit by a string of clashes between regime forces and Kurdish separatists and Isis militants"
This list includesWorld War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold.
Ottoman Empire[1]
Imperial State of Iran (1925–79)
Soviet Union[2]
Qasem Soleimani X
Mustafa Hijri
Abdullah Mohtadi
Ibrahim Alizade
Siamand Moeini
Hussein Yazdanpanah
