Iran's fear of the 'dissolved' Kurdish opposition groups
The demonstrations in Iran and the Kurdistan Region are different this time. Since the Islamic republic of Iran came to power in 1979, it has never faced a challenge as major as the aftermath of the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini on September 16. This uprising is unprecedented in the 43-year history of the Islamic republic. Previously, there have been three major demonstrations across the nation.
On June 20, 1981, the first major demonstration against the Iranian regime took place, but only supporters of the Mojahedin e-Khalq (MEK) and ousted president Abolhassan Banisadr participated with people taking to the streets in Tehran and 11 other cities.
In the 2009 protests that began after the announcement of the results of the tenth round of presidential elections, the leadership of the protests did not come out within the framework of the Islamic republic. During this protest, the dominant discourse and slogan was "Where is my vote?" echoing across 25 cities.
In the fall of 2020, protests broke out against distribution restrictions on gasoline and the increase in its price, lasting for more than a month and occurring in 104 cities with the slogan being "death to the dictator."
This uprising could be a continuation of previous protests, especially the 2019 protests, but with larger differences. The current movement is the largest uprising in terms of the participation of different classes, ethnicities, the number of participants, and its spread across the country.
Rallies in support of the protests have also been held in around 150 different cities outside of Iran. The United States, European Union, Britain, and Canada have imposed sanctions on Iran in response to the authorities’ violent crackdown on protests.
The movement is unprecedented in Iran. The main slogan of the demonstrations, "Women, Life, Freedom," includes all the people's demands for gender equality, the right to a decent standard of living, as well as political and social freedoms.
The uprising began with the news of Amini's death on September 16 while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
The next day, during Amini's funeral in her hometown of Saqqez, Kurdish opposition parties of Iran (the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Komala) called on the Kurdish people to close their shops and markets in protest.
That day, I spoke to reliable activists in many cities of Iran's Kurdish regions (Rojhelat). Many said the strike was unprecedented.
That evening, the groups called on people to take to the streets to protest. I spoke to several members of the leadership of the parties in Rojhelat about the huge risk such a protest posed.
They were not convinced that people would take to the streets given security and military climate.
However, demonstrations broke out city after city and have been ongoing for more than a month, covering all parts of Iran, 31 provinces, 105 cities, and 68 universities, according to statistics from Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The parties that called for the general strike have been physically absent from their homes for nearly 40 years, with their headquarters located in the depths of the Kurdistan Region. Despite not being there in person, their spirit is felt as people chant slogans in support of them.
Some of the protestors also want the "dissolved" parties to be given greater participation in the protests by sending armed Peshmerga forces to Iran to defend the people against the violent repression. The leadership of these parties is concerned that by doing so, they would be handing themselves over to the government.
They say that they support all civil and peaceful demonstrations, but they do not want Iran to become another Syria and for Iranian authorities to have an excuse to destroy cities and massacre people.
This is a situation that members of these groups have experienced before. Since the mid-1980s, fighting on the front lines has disappeared from the cities and villages of Rojhelat.
The parties of Rojhelat and their Peshmerga gradually retreated to the borders and then into the Kurdistan Region.
At that time, two main forces were fighting the Islamic Republic of Iran – the KDPI and Komala – with over 20 thousand Peshmerga. After Iran's 1979 revolution, they had acquired some arms from Iranian military bases in Urmia and Sanandaj. They did not possess heavy weapons, but they had plenty of light or semi-heavy weapons.
These parties claim that they retreated out of fear of Iranian forces destroying cities and villages and that had it not been for this fear, they had the capability to resist and potentially control some cities. During the fighting of the late 1970s and the early 1980s, several villages were destroyed because they were close to the fighting spots and the civilians living in the villages nearby were being killed. One example is the burning of the village of Sarukani, which was to the city of Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan province, because the KDPI Peshmerga forces occupied an Iranian military base near the village. Iranian forces in 1980 set fire to the entire village and killed 19 people, including a one-year-old child.
While these parties say they do not want weapons to be mixed with civil demonstrations, every effort is being made to identify them as the main cause of the chaos and violence. Authorities accuse the KDPI and Komala of killing Iranian forces.
A Kurdish activist who was detained by Iranian intelligence forces for two weeks for participating in the demonstrations told me that the intelligence forces were constantly threatening and torturing him, and even promising detainees economic relief if they admit to being linked to the Kurdish parties.
He said that the intelligence forces know that people without a criminal record were easier to track down so they pushed harder with them.
The Islamic republic of Iran has not stopped fighting these parties. On September 28, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with modern weapons (73 ballistic missiles and dozens of suicide drones according to IRGC statistics), attacked the headquarters of KDPI, Komala, and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in the Kurdistan Region. The attacks caused heavy casualties and material damage, killing 18 people.
On June 20, 1981, the first major demonstration against the Iranian regime took place, but only supporters of the Mojahedin e-Khalq (MEK) and ousted president Abolhassan Banisadr participated with people taking to the streets in Tehran and 11 other cities.
In the 2009 protests that began after the announcement of the results of the tenth round of presidential elections, the leadership of the protests did not come out within the framework of the Islamic republic. During this protest, the dominant discourse and slogan was "Where is my vote?" echoing across 25 cities.
In the fall of 2020, protests broke out against distribution restrictions on gasoline and the increase in its price, lasting for more than a month and occurring in 104 cities with the slogan being "death to the dictator."
This uprising could be a continuation of previous protests, especially the 2019 protests, but with larger differences. The current movement is the largest uprising in terms of the participation of different classes, ethnicities, the number of participants, and its spread across the country.
Rallies in support of the protests have also been held in around 150 different cities outside of Iran. The United States, European Union, Britain, and Canada have imposed sanctions on Iran in response to the authorities’ violent crackdown on protests.
The movement is unprecedented in Iran. The main slogan of the demonstrations, "Women, Life, Freedom," includes all the people's demands for gender equality, the right to a decent standard of living, as well as political and social freedoms.
The uprising began with the news of Amini's death on September 16 while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
The next day, during Amini's funeral in her hometown of Saqqez, Kurdish opposition parties of Iran (the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Komala) called on the Kurdish people to close their shops and markets in protest.
That day, I spoke to reliable activists in many cities of Iran's Kurdish regions (Rojhelat). Many said the strike was unprecedented.
That evening, the groups called on people to take to the streets to protest. I spoke to several members of the leadership of the parties in Rojhelat about the huge risk such a protest posed.
They were not convinced that people would take to the streets given security and military climate.
However, demonstrations broke out city after city and have been ongoing for more than a month, covering all parts of Iran, 31 provinces, 105 cities, and 68 universities, according to statistics from Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The parties that called for the general strike have been physically absent from their homes for nearly 40 years, with their headquarters located in the depths of the Kurdistan Region. Despite not being there in person, their spirit is felt as people chant slogans in support of them.
Some of the protestors also want the "dissolved" parties to be given greater participation in the protests by sending armed Peshmerga forces to Iran to defend the people against the violent repression. The leadership of these parties is concerned that by doing so, they would be handing themselves over to the government.
They say that they support all civil and peaceful demonstrations, but they do not want Iran to become another Syria and for Iranian authorities to have an excuse to destroy cities and massacre people.
This is a situation that members of these groups have experienced before. Since the mid-1980s, fighting on the front lines has disappeared from the cities and villages of Rojhelat.
The parties of Rojhelat and their Peshmerga gradually retreated to the borders and then into the Kurdistan Region.
At that time, two main forces were fighting the Islamic Republic of Iran – the KDPI and Komala – with over 20 thousand Peshmerga. After Iran's 1979 revolution, they had acquired some arms from Iranian military bases in Urmia and Sanandaj. They did not possess heavy weapons, but they had plenty of light or semi-heavy weapons.
These parties claim that they retreated out of fear of Iranian forces destroying cities and villages and that had it not been for this fear, they had the capability to resist and potentially control some cities. During the fighting of the late 1970s and the early 1980s, several villages were destroyed because they were close to the fighting spots and the civilians living in the villages nearby were being killed. One example is the burning of the village of Sarukani, which was to the city of Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan province, because the KDPI Peshmerga forces occupied an Iranian military base near the village. Iranian forces in 1980 set fire to the entire village and killed 19 people, including a one-year-old child.
While these parties say they do not want weapons to be mixed with civil demonstrations, every effort is being made to identify them as the main cause of the chaos and violence. Authorities accuse the KDPI and Komala of killing Iranian forces.
A Kurdish activist who was detained by Iranian intelligence forces for two weeks for participating in the demonstrations told me that the intelligence forces were constantly threatening and torturing him, and even promising detainees economic relief if they admit to being linked to the Kurdish parties.
He said that the intelligence forces know that people without a criminal record were easier to track down so they pushed harder with them.
The Islamic republic of Iran has not stopped fighting these parties. On September 28, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with modern weapons (73 ballistic missiles and dozens of suicide drones according to IRGC statistics), attacked the headquarters of KDPI, Komala, and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in the Kurdistan Region. The attacks caused heavy casualties and material damage, killing 18 people.
Iran has also put heavy pressure on Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to disarm the Kurdish opposition parties and close down their headquarters, as well as threatening to cross the international border between Iran and Iraq and launch ground attacks.
All of these are signs of fear given that these parties have managed to launch the biggest uprising against the Islamic Republic of Iran through statements and appeals based on their position among the people.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.