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The
Iranian government is facing a new security
challenge from a small, armed Iranian Kurdish group
emboldened by the political gains of Kurds in
neighbouring Iraq.
Pejak, the Party for a Free Life in Iranian
Kurdistan, has emerged as behind recent unrest in
the predominantly Kurdish north-west of the country,
renewing a separatist armed struggle that halted a
decade ago.
Of Iran's 70m population, about 10 per cent is
estimated to be Kurdish.
Iranian Kurds were suppressed during Iran's 1979
revolution. But the main Kurdish opposition groups
in the Islamic republic, including the Kurdistan
Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Komaleh,
abandoned violence in the early 1990s and now
advocate federalism.
However, unrest broke out last month after a Kurd
named Shiwane Seyyed-Qaderi, who was not thought to
be a political activist, was killed by the police in
the north-western town of Mahabad, formerly a hotbed
for Kurdish nationalism. Opposition groups published
pictures of Shiwane's body on websites and claimed
he was tortured to death. Four satellite Kurdish TV
channels, based in Iraq and Belgium, broadcast the
claims and fuelled anger in Iran.
Human Rights Watch claimed 17 died in the clashes,
but local Kurdish groups say no more than eight were
killed. Nevertheless, hundreds of Kurds were
arrested and two Kurdish newspapers shut down.
According to Kurdish sources in Tehran, Pejak
guerrillas joined the spontaneous protests. The
media reported that the group killed four policemen
and kidnapped another four. The captives were later
released.
Tensions in Kurdish areas began to grow after the
US-led invasion of Iraq two years ago gave Kurds a
powerful voice in Iraq's postwar political process,
including the installation of Jalal Talabani, the
Kurdish leader, as president.
Iranian Kurds have also been watching Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, who recently
visited his country's predominantly Kurdish
south-east and for the first time admitted
wrongdoings by Ankara towards its restive minority.
Pejak is believed to be a sub-division of Turkey's
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), which has
been branded a terrorist organisation by the US and
European Union. Its membership mainly comprises
Iranian Kurds, but also includes some Turks and
Iraqis.
"Pejak is a new phenomenon, and their identity and
intentions still need to be investigated," Mohammad
Karimian, the head of a 10-member Kurdish faction in
Iran's 280-seat parliament, told the Financial
Times.
Bahram Walad-Beigi, editor of Ashti, the Kurdish
language daily closed during the recent unrest,
estimates the number of Pejak guerrillas at about
500. These are believed to be based in a mountainous
area close to the borders of Iran, Turkey and Iraq.
Iranian Kurdish activists fear that if the armed
struggle gains momentum, it would give the regime an
excuse to clamp down on Kurdish activists and deepen
what ethnic Kurds see as discrimination.
"No matter how small the number of Pejak's forces
might be, there is the fear that their use of guns
can put us back to years of violence and
suppression, and this would mean more deprivation
for us," Mr Walad-Beigi said.
www.ft.com
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