Iran's protests... popular anger and feminist movement that will not be stopped by the attacks on the Kurdistan region

Are the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties behind the fueling of the protests?..and what is their strength and influence?

Saman Noah

On the 13th of last September, what is known as the “morality police” arrested the Kurdish young woman, Mahsa Amini (22 years old), near the Tehran metro, under the pretext of not adhering to the “Islamic dress code.” The girl was forcibly taken, despite her resistance, to a police car that took her to a counseling center, where she fell into a trance. In "Kosra" Hospital in Tehran, where she died three days later.

The background of the arrest incident, and the talk of witnesses, including her brother who was accompanying her, about the girl being beaten several times by the police, and then the sudden death, a wave of major protests was launched in various Iranian cities starting from the birthplace of Mahsa in the Iranian city of Saqqez, where she was buried in the presence of thousands mourners.

The Iranian official version did not change, whether hours after the death on September 16 or even after the official forensic report was issued on October 7, and it continued to confirm that Mahsa died after three days of coma "as a result of the repercussions of a previous illness" and not as a result of blows to the organs. Vitality.

And the Iranian Forensic Medicine Authority stated that "the death was not due to blows to the head or the vital organs of the body," but rather related to the repercussions of her undergoing "surgery to remove a brain tumor at the age of eight," noting that that operation led to the girl's suffering from "disorders in the axis." The hypothalamus and a number of associated glands, including the thyroid gland.

The authority stated that Amini suddenly lost consciousness and fell to the ground, and because of her health condition, she lacked the “ability to compensate and adapt to the situation,” and she suffered from a heart rhythm disorder and a drop in blood pressure, and thus a decline in the level of consciousness that developed into “severe hypoxia and thus Brain damage."

The Amini family, which rejected what was stated in the medical report, says that it did not expect the government to say otherwise, despite the promises and statements of senior officials, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, to investigate the incident.

Mahsa Amini's father, her brother and family members said she was in good health and did not suffer from any disease. One of Amini's relatives, a member of an opposition Kurdish political party residing in Iraq, said that his relative died as a result of a "strong blow to the head," according to information obtained from witnesses who were with her and women who were stopped with her in the same police car.

The incident that shook Iran

Mahsa, or "Zina" as her family calls her, was visiting with her 17-year-old brother to some of their relatives in Tehran, before she joined a university study. They took her by force to what she called "a guidance lesson because of her bad veil," and she stayed there for about two hours. Her family says that they do not know exactly what happened during that, before they learned that she had been transferred to the hospital after she entered a coma.

Her brother says that he tried to persuade the police to release her, but they did not respond and insisted on taking her. "We will guide her so that she learns how to wear the hijab," and during that, as in the police car that took her with others to the Moral Security on Ministries Street in Tehran, she was beaten.

After the shocking news of the death that shook all of Iran after it was widely spread on social media, Iranian television broadcast images from surveillance cameras at the police station, in which Mahsa appeared sitting, then getting up and arguing with a policewoman before she fell to the ground unconscious.

The incident sparked widespread debate in Iran among the political, cultural, sports and artistic elites and various segments of society, regarding the role of literature journals and their method of work. Many personalities made comments and declared positions criticizing the behavior of these periodicals.

Hassan Khomeini commented, saying that the news hurt the feelings of society and shocked minds. Without a doubt, the police must be held accountable, transparently and accurately, for what happened to this girl, calling for pursuing public rights and responding to public opinion.

Eshaq Jahangiri, the first assistant to former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said that this tragic incident cannot be ignored. Calling to "end those behaviours", her family is now mourning the loss of their daughter and public opinion is deeply upset and angry.

The Iranian international soccer player, Ali Dayi, criticized what happened to Mahsa, and asked what guilt she was subjected to. The player, Ali Karimi, commented on Amini's photo while she was on the hospital bed, "Savior and investigator of justice for Iran, a woman."

The Iranian media devoted large areas to the story of Mahsa, and its news and its repercussions made headlines. And the great interaction with the incident made the name of Mahsa Amini “Trend” the interaction on the “Twitter” site, with 400 million interactions.

The volume of sympathy, denunciation, and the call for action was very large, despite the frequent shutdown of the Internet, and ignited demonstrations and protests that began in the Kurdish cities in the west of the country and later extended to the center, south, and north of the country, and even the eastern regions, as well as Tehran, the capital, where the demonstrations have not stopped since the death was announced.

The demonstrations, which, according to Iranian organizations, included more than 100 cities and towns and in all 31 provinces in the country, which were punctuated by clashes, with different groups participating and led by young men.

The demonstrations later developed into sit-ins, especially in the Kurdish cities in the west of the country, where at the beginning of October there was a wide response to calls to close shops and markets, despite the government's attempts to use force and threaten to arrest anyone who supports the demonstration and sit-in.

Universities and high schools

The demonstrations spread to Iranian universities in various regions of the country, and the youth who were born after the Iranian Islamic Revolution organized massive protests inside the universities of Tehran, Azad Bonak branch, Beheshti University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Razi University in Kermanshah, Tabriz University, Shiraz University, and Chahrum Science University. Medical, Sanandaj University, Zanjan University, Urmia University, and Khorramabad University. They were joined by female secondary school students in many regions of the country, which made it difficult for the security services to confront them.

The demonstrations that have been going on for three weeks did not come as a result of political calls or because of an economic crisis, as in 2019, and were not limited to one class, but included the poor as well as the middle class, and they were joined by crowds of the rich class, which is usually in harmony with power.

The protests took various forms, starting with large-scale demonstrations with the participation of various groups in the streets and squares, to many demonstrations with a limited number of participants inside the alleys, to protesting through social media despite the internet being cut off and the communication networks stopped working, to launching slogans against the regime from rooftops and balconies in hours. the night.

But the most prominent scene is women standing in the middle of the streets and blocking traffic while raising their headscarves and waving them, and sometimes they throw them. A scene that has become very frequent in many cities, which quickly leads to other women joining them and issuing slogans calling for freedoms, led by the slogan "Zhen, Zian, Azadi - women, life, freedom" before the police come forward and disperse them.

Iranian opponents believe that the demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini come as a result of popular anger at the regime of the Islamic Republic, anger at the economic and political situation and at the dictatorship that deprives Iranians of basic freedoms, "old and renewed anger at systematic repression."

What makes it difficult for the authorities this time to confront the demonstrations with more repression, and what confuses the traditional accounts of confronting the demonstrations, which is usually represented in talking about an external conspiracy with the participation of opposition forces against the Islamic Revolutionary regime, is that women are the ones leading the demonstrations, and that the majority of the participants are young people who are not involved in Politics and those who did not leave Iran.

Attacks on the Kurdistan region

On Wednesday, September 28, that is, about ten days after the protests continued in the Kurdish cities in western Iran, the Iranian forces launched massive attacks with missiles and drones, in addition to artillery shelling, on sites inside the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The bombing, which took place with more than 73 missiles and dozens of explosive-laden drones, according to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, centered in Koysanjak in Erbil, targeted the headquarters of Iranian opposition parties, which Tehran accused of involvement in fueling the protests.

According to Kurdish sources, the attacks included refugee camps as well as party headquarters, leaving 18 dead and more than 50 wounded.

During about two weeks, until October 7, the Iranian artillery bombardment, which included sites and villages extending from the far north of Erbil governorate to Sulaymaniyah, did not stop, amid press reports that Iran mobilized its forces in some locations on the border.

Tariq Haidar, the district commissioner of the Koysanjak district, says that the attacks paralyzed life and led to the displacement of about 700 families from the Azadi refugee camp and the nearby village of Shila, and that the people of the city are sheltering the displaced in their homes, and there are houses that host two or three families in a difficult humanitarian situation.

In Bradost, Seidkan, north of Erbil, in what is known as the Iraqi-Iranian-Turkish triangle, residents evacuated four villages, and dozens of families abandoned their homes and farms, as rockets and shells continued to fall.

To escape the bombing, the geography of evacuation and displacement expands, as Iraqi civilians flee into the depth of the region, while the leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard threaten the region with more strikes, demanding the expulsion of Iranian refugees opposed to the regime and the disarmament of their already limited weapons, which do not exceed light ones.

Refugees fleeing Iran and who are in the Kurdistan region, Tehran has said for years that "they have no weight or influence inside."

A position seen by observers as a response to the Iranian scene reflects Iranian anger and inability to confront the demonstrations led by women and girls, so Tehran resorts to exporting its internal problem by blatantly and violently targeting refugees fleeing from its policies.

But the bombings backfired. Three days later (October 1), the cities of Iranian Kurdistan witnessed a general strike, as markets and shops were closed in a clear message of protest.

The markets were completely closed in the cities of Ilam, Sanandaj, Mariwan, Banh, Saqqez, Dewandareh, Mahabad, Urmia, Sheno, Piranshahr, Diolan, Nagda and Sardasht, by 70% in the city of Paveh, and 30% in Jwanru, and most of the shops were closed in the city of Kermanshah. , according to press reports.

Military targeting map

The attacks launched by Iran focused on camps and party headquarters relatively far from the Iranian borders, and against parties that have not known military activity inside Iran for years, and they already have a very limited number of fighters armed with simple weapons that usually do not exceed Kalashnikov weapons.

These are mostly refugees fleeing Iran, who do not engage in hostilities. They joined Kurdish opposition parties to Iran whose activities are suspended or frozen due to their weak capabilities compared to the powerful Iranian military machine. The movement of members of these parties is restricted according to rules set for them by the leadership of the Kurdistan region to avoid angering the powerful regional neighbor, Iran.

The attacks mainly targeted the headquarters and locations of:

- The "Kamەڵە" party in the Zaggouz region in Sulaymaniyah and some of their small groups near the border with Iran.

- The Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (Hadka) in the Koysanjak region, and some of their groups are near the border with Iran.

- Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in Sherawa district in Erbil.

- Kurdistan Free Life Party (Pzhak) in Penjwen area.

The first three parties (کۆمەڵە, Wahdakah, and پاک) mostly have a small number of headquarters and fighters in specific and known areas, and they do not have a strong military force that may in any way constitute a concern for Iran. The weapons of its members are light, and no active activity has been recorded for it in recent years inside Iran, but it has great popular sympathy in Iranian Kurdistan, especially my party alone.

It is practically difficult for these parties to infiltrate the borders and transfer weapons, especially since the two ruling parties in the Kurdistan region (the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) do not allow them to move freely and carry out activities as they wish.

The situation is different for the Kurdistan Free Life Party, which represents a wing of the PKK, and is considered one of the strongest Iranian Kurdish parties, the best armed and the most numerous and active, although it had announced in 2011 a cease-fire with Iran, but the confrontations between the two parties did not stop, and elements launched The party has sporadic attacks inside Iran in recent years, and its headquarters and mobile cells have been subjected to Iranian attacks almost continuously.

The party does not have known headquarters in the Kurdistan region, and it is not subject to the authority of the region’s administration, and its fighters are holed up in mountainous locations that the region’s authority does not reach, and they are present in many mountainous areas on the Iranian-Iraqi borders, and they are also present inside Iran in fortified sites in Mariwan, Urmia, Mahabad and Karmashan.

Regardless of the strength of the Kurdish parties and the extent of their influence inside Iran, and their role in the ongoing demonstrations in the Kurdish cities in western Iran, the clear truth is that the Iranian missile attacks and bombing operations inside the Kurdistan region of Iraq did not produce positive results in favor of Iran, but on the contrary contributed to fueling the demonstrations in the regions Kurdish and turn it at times into sit-ins.

If the Iranian message behind the attacks is to say that the demonstrations are the result of the movements of opposition parties on its western borders working to stir up problems inside Iran with Western guidance and support, and not the result of the movement of a wide segment of Iranians who reject the regime and the current situation in the country, then the Iranian leadership is preoccupied with itself. Confronting an illusion, instead of addressing the reasons behind the demonstrations, such as economic deterioration, political closure, restriction of freedoms, marginalization of components, and restriction of women.

The attacks on the headquarters of the Iranian opposition parties present in the Kurdistan region will not contribute to resolving Iran's crises, nor will Tehran's attempt to export its internal crises through external attacks inside Iraq, and by venting its anger on the easiest target available to it, which is the Kurdish opposition parties. Strengthening these parties inside Iran and revitalizing their movement, which has been suspended for years.