On June 2, 1983, the Iranian regime executed 59 innocent Kurds in Mahabad without trial, defense, or even the right to say goodbye to their families. This massacre, still remembered with deep pain, was not an isolated act of brutality. It was and remains part of a long-term, systematic policy of genocide against the Kurdish people by the Islamic Republic of Iran—a campaign that spans military occupation, economic deprivation, environmental destruction, cultural erasure, and psychological warfare. Today, forty-six years since the 1979 revolution, the war on Kurdish existence continues, under new disguises but with the same deadly intent.
From Jihad to Genocide: Origins of the Campaign
In the aftermath of the 1979 revolution, Iran stood at a crossroads. While some parts of the country embraced political Islam, East Kurdistan (Rojhelat) took a different path—demanding a democratic, secular, and autonomous framework. The Kurdish boycott of the February 12, 1979 referendum was met not with dialogue, but with a fatwa. Ayatollah Khomeini declared a jihad against the Kurdish people, launching a military offensive in July of that year.
Under this religious decree, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regular army, and the Basij militia unleashed a brutal campaign across Kurdish provinces. Entire villages were flattened, tens of thousands were displaced or executed, and an estimated 50,000 civilians were killed between 1979 and 1984 alone. The scorched-earth tactics used against the Kurds mimic other historical genocidal operations—relentless, militarized, and absolute.
Today, East Kurdistan remains one of the most militarized regions in Iran, with an estimated one soldier or militia member for every 33 Kurdish citizens. Revolutionary Guard and Basij bases are present in almost every town and village.
The Economic Dimension: Starvation as a Weapon
The genocide against the Kurds is not only waged with bullets and bombs but also with hunger and poverty. The Iranian regime has deliberately imposed economic policies reminiscent of the Soviet Union's 1932–1933 Holodomor famine in Ukraine—starving a people into submission.
Despite the natural wealth of the Kurdish regions—oil in Kermanshah, fertile lands in Urmia, and immense hydrological potential—economic activity is systematically blocked. Industrial development is prohibited, and unemployment in East Kurdistan is among the highest in the country, peaking at over 44% in some provinces.
Forced into desperation, thousands of Kurdish men turn to kolbari—carrying heavy goods across mountainous borders under perilous conditions. Iranian border guards routinely shoot them. In 2019 alone, 252 Kurdish porters were killed or wounded. This is not merely economic neglect—it is a calculated extermination of a people's economic backbone.
Cultural and Psychological Warfare: A Nation Silenced
Iran’s constitution acknowledges Persian as the sole official language, and Twelver Shi’ism as the only legitimate religious identity. This effectively erases the Kurdish language, culture, and Sunni Islamic identity from the public sphere. Article 15 of the Constitution allows the use of regional languages in media and education, but in practice, this right is denied.
Kurdish-language education is banned. Kurdish civil activists are imprisoned or executed. Even traditional celebrations like Newroz are militarily suppressed. The regime’s policies seek not only to destroy Kurdish life but to erase Kurdish memory and future.
The regime's introduction of narcotics into Kurdish society—particularly among youth—is no accident. Piranshahr and Sardasht have become epicenters of drug trafficking, with state complicity. This deliberate flooding of Kurdish regions with drugs aims to pacify, distract, and destroy the social fabric of a potential resistance force.
Environmental Destruction: Ecocide as a Strategy
The Iranian state has also weaponized the environment in its war on Kurds. By diverting rivers, constructing unnecessary dams, and draining Lake Urmia—once the largest saltwater lake in the Middle East—the regime is transforming fertile Kurdish lands into arid deserts.
Burning forests, unscientific infrastructure projects, and neglect of waste management have devastated biodiversity and led to chronic pollution in East Kurdistan. The once self-sufficient, agriculturally rich region is now dependent on imports, further deepening its vulnerability.
This "eco-terrorism" is not collateral damage; it is state policy. Destroy the land, and you destroy the people.
State Terrorism and Assassinations
Since 1979, the Islamic Republic has executed or assassinated over 450 Kurdish political leaders and civil society activists—many outside Iran's borders, even in Europe. The June 2, 1983 Mahabad massacre remains one of the darkest days in this history. Among the victims were children under 18, denied even the dignity of a last testament.
To this day, Iran continues its campaign of assassination and surveillance against Kurds in exile. The Quds Force, a branch of the IRGC, receives more than €200 million annually to conduct foreign operations, including targeted killings. Iran remains one of the world's most active state sponsors of terrorism, and Kurds have been one of its primary targets.
Denial of Nationhood: A System Built on Exclusion
Iran’s centralized, Persian-dominated political system denies the multiethnic reality of the country. Kurds, who number over 12 million within Iran’s borders, are treated not as a nation, but as a security threat. Their identity is suppressed, their culture criminalized, their aspirations labeled “separatist.”
Instead of a federal or multicultural model, the Islamic Republic insists on forced assimilation—Persianization and Shi'ization—as prerequisites for citizenship. The regime’s refusal to recognize the Kurdish nation as a legitimate political and cultural entity is at the heart of the ongoing genocide.
An Urgent Appeal to the World
The actions of the Iranian state against the Kurdish people meet the legal definition of genocide as outlined in the 1948 UN Genocide Convention: the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. These are not merely "human rights violations"—they are acts of annihilation.
We call upon the United Nations, the European Union, the International Criminal Court, and all democratic nations to:
Without justice for Kurdistan, there can be no democracy in Iran—only tyranny built upon the bones of silenced nations.
In Memoriam: Mahabad 1983
We remember the names of the 59 Kurds executed on this day in Mahabad. They are not statistics. They were sons, daughters, poets, workers, and dreamers. They are the voice of a nation that refuses to be erased.
Let the world never forget them. Let this be the century where genocide ends—and justice begins.
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