Iran’s Kurdish Activists See ‘No Sign of Change’ Under New President

Despite the optimism that followed the election of moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Kurdish activists say they have seen “no real sign of change so far.”

Rahim Farahmand, a prominent Kurdish political campaigner in Iran, said that Iranian officials would not grant permission to any grouping that has the word “Kurd” in its name.

“The Iranian Ministry of Interior does not recognize our group as a ‘Front’ and had issues with the word ‘Kurd’ in the title,” he said.

Farahmand and a group of Kurdish activists filed an official request last year for permission to engage in political work, without much success.

“They have asked us to drop the word ‘Kurd’ and replace it with ‘National,’” Farahmand said. “Instead of ‘Front’ they suggested ‘Party.’”

He said that despite permission granted to other political groups in the country, he and his colleagues have accepted the ministry’s conditions to drop both words, in exchange for official recognition.

“The replacement of the title would not affect our political opinions. We just want to work within the laws for political parties.”

He said that his group has suggested several other names without the objectionable names, but that the ministry has not responded.

The Kurdish United Front was founded in 2005 in Iranian Kurdistan. Bahaaddin Adab, a representative from the province of Sanandaj, was a leading figure in creating the front.

Rahim Farahmand, who heads the group, said the Front has been effective despite severe criticism directed at it.

But Tahir Khido, a university student in Tehran, noted that the party suffers from a “lack of political agenda and organization.”

“I think the Front should regroup itself from head to toe,” he said.

The Front has five councils in four Kurdish provinces, and one in Tehran.

“The Front has no transparent and detailed structure,” Khido said. “Even in terms of political agenda, it should have adopted a more coherent program.”

Some in the Front say they should assume stronger national schemes. They maintain also that the Front should keep its original name. But many others have chosen a more “realistic approach” within the Front and say they should “carry on despite setbacks.”

Farahmand said that President Rouhani seems to be a reformist, “But I sense that his immediate surrounding blocks his reforms.”

“We still hope for an official permit,” Farahmand says. “Nonetheless, even without it, we carry on with our political and social activism.”