Editing Kurds (section)

===Iran===
{{Main|Kurds in Iran|Kurds of Khorasan|Iranian Kurdistan|History of the Kurds}}

The [[Iranian Kurdistan|Kurdish region]] of [[Iran]] has been a part of the country since ancient times. Nearly all [[Kurdistan]] was part of [[Safavid Iran]] until its Western part was lost during [[Ottoman–Persian Wars|wars]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=McLachlan|first=Keith|title=Boundaries i. With the Ottoman Empire|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/boundaries-i|date=15 December 1989|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> Following the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]], at the [[Treaty of Versailles|Paris Peace Conference]] of 1919 Tehran had demanded all lost territories including [[Turkish Kurdistan]], [[Mosul]], and even [[Diyarbakır]], but demands were quickly rejected by Western powers.<ref name="schofield">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schofield|first=Richard N.|title=Boundaries v. With Turkey|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/boundaries-v|date=15 December 1989|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> This area has been divided by modern [[Turkey]], [[Syria]] and [[Iraq]].<ref name="kreyenbroekKWL">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Kreyenbroek|first=Philip G.|title=Kurdish Written Literature|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-written-literature|date=20 July 2005|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> Today, the Kurds inhabit mostly northwestern territories known as [[Iranian Kurdistan]] but also the northeastern region of [[Khorasan Province|Khorasan]], and constitute approximately 7–10%<ref name="kreyenbroek1719">{{cite book|last1=Kreyenbroek|first1=Philip G.|last2=Sperl|first2=Stefan|title=The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London; New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/17 17–19]|year=1992|isbn=978-0-415-07265-6|oclc=24247652|url=https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/17}}</ref> of Iran's overall population (6.5–7.9&nbsp;million), compared to 10.6% (2&nbsp;million) in 1956 and 8% (800,000) in 1850.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=[[Iran Between Two Revolutions]]|year=1982|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=12|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref>

Unlike in other Kurdish-populated countries, there are strong ethnolinguistic and cultural ties between Kurds, [[Persian people|Persians]] and others as [[Iranian peoples]].<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/>{{Failed verification|date=March 2025|reason=The cited source does not support the given claim}} Some modern Iranian dynasties like the [[Safavids]] and [[Zands]] are considered to be partly of Kurdish origin. [[Kurdish literature]] in all of its forms ([[Kurmanji language|Kurmanji]], [[Sorani language|Sorani]], and [[Gorani language (Zaza-Gorani)|Gorani]]) has developed within historical Iranian boundaries under strong influence of the [[Persian language]].<ref name="kreyenbroekKWL"/>

According to Philip Kreyenbroek and Stefan Sperl, "The [[government of Iran]] has never employed the same level of brutality against its own Kurds like [[Turkey]] or [[Iraq]], but it has always been implacably opposed to any suggestion of Kurdish separatism."<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> During and shortly after the [[First World War]] the government of Iran was ineffective and had very little control over events in the country and several Kurdish [[Kurdish tribes|tribal]] chiefs gained local political power, even established large confederations.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141">{{cite book |last1=Kreyenbroek |first1=Philip G. |url=https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/138 |title=The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview |last2=Sperl |first2=Stefan |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-415-07265-6 |location=London; New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/138 138–141] |oclc=24247652}}</ref> At the same time waves of [[nationalism]] from the disintegrating Ottoman Empire partly influenced some Kurdish chiefs in border regions to pose as Kurdish nationalist leaders.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Prior to this, identity in both countries largely relied upon religion, i.e., [[Shia Islam]] in the particular case of Iran.<ref name="banuaziziweiner">{{cite book |last1=Banuazizi |first1=Ali |url=https://archive.org/details/statereligioneth0000unse/page/186 |title=The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan |last2=Weiner |first2=Myron |author-link2=Myron Weiner |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-8156-2385-4 |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/statereligioneth0000unse/page/186 186–187] |oclc=13762196}}</ref><ref name="ashraf">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Ashraf|first=Ahmad|title=Iranian Identity iv. 19th–20th Centuries|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iranian-identity-iv-19th-20th-centuries|date=15 December 2006|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> In 19th-century [[Qajar dynasty|Iran]], [[Shia–Sunni relations|Shia–Sunni animosity]] and the describing of [[Sunni]] Kurds as an Ottoman [[fifth column]] was quite frequent.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|year=1982|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=32|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref>

During the late 1910s and early 1920s, [[Simko Shikak revolt|tribal revolt]] led by Kurdish chieftain [[Simko Shikak]] struck northwestern Iran. Although elements of [[Kurdish 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.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Government forces and non-Kurds were not the only ones to suffer in the attacks, the [[Kurdish population]] was also robbed and assaulted.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/><ref name="entessar">{{cite book|last=Entessar|first=Nader|author-link=Nader Entessar|title=Kurdish Politics in the Middle East|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|location=Lanham|page=17|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7391-4039-0|oclc=430736528}}</ref> Rebels do not appear to have felt any sense of unity or solidarity with fellow Kurds.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Kurdish insurgency and seasonal migrations in the late 1920s, along with long-running tensions between Tehran and Ankara, resulted in border clashes and even military penetrations in both Iranian and Turkish territory.<ref name="schofield"/> Two regional powers have used Kurdish tribes as tool for own political benefits: Turkey has provided military help and refuge for anti-Iranian Turcophone [[Simko Shikak revolt|Shikak rebels]] in 1918–1922,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Allen|first1=William Edward David|last2=Muratoff|first2=Paul|title=Caucasian battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian border, 1828–1921|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge|page=296|year=1953|oclc=1102813}}</ref> while Iran did the same during [[Ararat rebellion]] against Turkey in 1930. [[Reza Shah]]'s military victory over Kurdish and [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] tribal leaders initiated a repressive era toward non-[[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] minorities.<ref name="entessar"/> Government's forced detribalization and [[sedentarization]] in 1920s and 1930s resulted with many other tribal revolts in Iranian regions of [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]], [[Luristan]] and [[Iranian Kurdistan|Kurdistan]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bayat|first=Kaveh|editor-last=Cronin|editor-first=Stephanie|chapter=Chapter 12: Riza Shah and the Tribes|title=The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society Under Riza Shah 1921–1941|series=BIPS Persian Studies Series|publisher=[[Routledge Taylor & Francis Group]]|location=London; New York|pages=224–230|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-42314-1|oclc=54059369}}</ref> In particular case of the Kurds, this repressive policies partly contributed to developing [[Kurdish nationalism|nationalism]] among some tribes.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/>
[[File:Kurdish people celebrating Nowruz 2018, Tangi Sar village (13970105000310636575781098296062 60685).jpg|thumb|Iranian Kurds celebrating [[Newroz as celebrated by Kurds|Newroz]], 20 March 2018]]

As a response to growing [[Pan-Turkism]] and [[Pan-Arabism]] in region which were seen as potential threats to the territorial integrity of Iran, [[Pan-Iranist]] ideology has been developed in the early 1920s.<ref name="ashraf"/> Some of such groups and journals openly advocated Iranian support to the Kurdish rebellion against [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Parvin|first=Nassereddin|title=Iran-e Kabir|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-e-kabir|date=15 December 2006|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> Secular [[Pahlavi dynasty]] has endorsed Iranian ethnic [[Iranian nationalism|nationalism]]<ref name="ashraf"/> which saw the Kurds as integral part of the Iranian nation.<ref name="banuaziziweiner"/> [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] has personally praised the Kurds as "pure Iranians" or "one of the most noble [[Iranian peoples]]". Another significant ideology during this period was [[Marxism]] which arose among Kurds under influence of [[USSR]]. It culminated in the [[Iran crisis of 1946]] which included a separatist attempt of [[KDP-I]] and [[communist]] groups<ref>Zabih, Sepehr (15 December 1992). [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/communism-ii Communism ii.]. in ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]''. New York: Columbia University</ref> to establish the [[USSR|Soviet]] [[puppet government]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Romano|first=David|title=The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity|series=Cambridge Middle East studies, 22.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, UK; New York|year=2006|page=227|isbn=978-0-521-85041-4|oclc=61425259}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chelkowski|first1=Peter J.|last2=Pranger|first2=Robert J.|title=Ideology and Power in the Middle East: Studies in Honor of George Lenczowski|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|location=Durham|year=1988|page=[https://archive.org/details/ideologypowerinm0000unse/page/399 399]|isbn=978-0-8223-0781-5|oclc=16923212|url=https://archive.org/details/ideologypowerinm0000unse/page/399}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, N.J.|year=1982|pages=217–218|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref> called [[Republic of Mahabad]]. It arose along with [[Azerbaijan People's Government]], another Soviet puppet state.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chubin|first1=Shahram|author-link1=Shahram Chubin|last2=Zabih|first2=Sepehr|title=The Foreign Relations of Iran: A Developing State in a Zone of Great-Power Conflict|year=1974|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/foreignrelations0000chub/page/39 39–41, 178]|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-02683-4|oclc=1219525|url=https://archive.org/details/foreignrelations0000chub/page/39}}</ref> The state itself encompassed a very small territory, including [[Mahabad]] and the adjacent cities, unable to incorporate the southern Iranian Kurdistan which fell inside the Anglo-American zone, and unable to attract the tribes outside Mahabad itself to the nationalist cause.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> As a result, when the Soviets withdrew from Iran in December 1946, government forces were able to enter Mahabad unopposed.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/>

[[File:Qazi_Muhammad.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Qazi Muhammad]], the president of the [[Republic of Kurdistan]]]]

Several [[Nationalism|nationalist]] and [[Marxist]] insurgencies continued for decades ([[1967 Kurdish revolt in Iran|1967]], [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|1979]], [[KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)|1989–96]]) led by [[KDP-I]] and [[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Komalah]], but those two organization have never advocated a separate Kurdish state or greater Kurdistan as did the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]] in [[Turkey]].<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/><ref name="romano240"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|year=1982|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=453|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Yodfat|first=Aryeh|title=The Soviet Union and Revolutionary Iran|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|location=New York|year=1984|isbn=978-0-312-74910-1|oclc=9282694|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sovietunionarabi0000yodf}}</ref> Still, many of dissident leaders, among others [[Qazi Muhammad]] and [[Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou]], were executed or assassinated.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> During [[Iran–Iraq War]], Tehran has provided support for Iraqi-based Kurdish groups like [[Kurdish Democratic Party|KDP]] or [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan|PUK]], along with asylum for 1.4 million Iraqi refugees, mostly [[Kurdish refugees|Kurds]]. Kurdish Marxist groups have been marginalized in Iran since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]. In 2004 new [[Iran–PJAK conflict|insurrection]] started by [[PJAK]], separatist organization affiliated with the Turkey-based [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]]<ref name="katzman">{{cite book|last=Katzman|first=Kenneth|title=Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security|publisher=[[Nova Science Publishers]]|location=New York|year=2009|page=32|isbn=978-1-61470-116-3|oclc=756496931}}</ref> and designated as [[List of designated terrorist groups|terrorist]] by Iran, Turkey and the United States.<ref name="katzman"/> Some analysts claim PJAK do not pose any serious threat to the [[government of Iran]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Habeeb|first1=William Mark|last2=Frankel|first2=Rafael D.|last3=Al-Oraibi|first3=Mina|title=The Middle East in Turmoil: Conflict, Revolution, and Change|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|location=Santa Barbara|year=2012|page=46|isbn=978-0-313-33914-1|oclc=753913763}}</ref> Cease-fire has been established in September 2011 following the Iranian offensive on PJAK bases, but several clashes between PJAK and IRGC took place after it.<ref name="elling">{{cite book|last=Elling|first=Rasmus Christian|title=Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|year=2013|page=312|isbn=978-0-230-11584-2|oclc=714725127}}</ref> Since the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979, accusations of "discrimination" by Western organizations and of "foreign involvement" by Iranian side have become very frequent.<ref name="elling"/>

Kurds have been well integrated in [[Politics of Iran|Iranian political life]] under various governments.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Kurdish liberal political [[Karim Sanjabi]] served as minister of education under [[Mohammad Mossadegh]] in 1952. During the reign of [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] some members of parliament and high army officers were Kurds, and there was even a Kurdish cabinet minister.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> During the [[Pahlavi dynasty|reign of the Pahlavis]] Kurds received many favours from the authorities, for instance to keep their land after the [[White Revolution|land reforms]] of 1962.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> In the early 2000s, presence of thirty Kurdish deputies in the 290-strong [[Parliament of Iran|parliament]] has also helped to undermine claims of discrimination.<ref name="howard">{{cite book|last=Howard|first=Roger|title=Iran in Crisis?: The Future of the Revolutionary Regime and the US Response|publisher=[[Zed Books]]|location=London; New York|year=2004|pages=185–186|isbn=978-1-84277-474-8|oclc=54966573}}</ref> Some of the more influential Kurdish politicians during recent years include former [[Vice President of Iran|first vice president]] [[Mohammad Reza Rahimi]] and [[Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf]], [[Mayor of Tehran]] and second-placed [[2013 Iranian presidential election|presidential candidate]] in 2013. The [[Kurdish language]] is today used more than at any other time since the [[Iranian Revolution|Revolution]], including in several newspapers and among schoolchildren.<ref name="howard"/> Many Iranian Kurds show no interest in [[Kurdish nationalism]],<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> particularly Kurds of the [[Shia]] faith who sometimes even vigorously reject idea of autonomy, preferring direct rule from [[Tehran]].<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/><ref name="romano240">{{cite book|last=Romano|first=David|title=The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity|series=Cambridge Middle East studies, 22.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, UK; New York|year=2006|page=240|isbn=978-0-521-85041-4|oclc=61425259}}</ref> The issue of Kurdish nationalism and Iranian national identity is generally only questioned in the peripheral Kurdish dominated regions where the [[Sunni]] faith is prevalent.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=A History of Modern Iran|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, U.K.; New York|year=2008|page=195|isbn=978-0-521-52891-7|oclc=171111098}}</ref>