Other
Kurdistan War in Iran, 1979-1983
Kurdish autonomy demands were rejected by the new Islamic Republic, leading to a war reported to have killed around 10,000 Iranian Kurds.
What happened
Kurdish political organizations, including the KDPI, initially supported the 1979 revolution against the Shah but sought Kurdish autonomy within the new state; Ayatollah Khomeini rejected a Kurdish delegation's proposals, and Sunni Kurds abstained from the April 1979 referendum establishing the Islamic Republic, which made no provision for regional autonomy.[1]
The resulting Kurdistan War, from 1979 to 1983, is reported to have killed approximately 10,000 Iranian Kurds and destroyed many Kurdish villages and towns.[1]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: Kurdish political organizations, including the KDPI, initially supported the 1979 revolution against the Shah but sought Kurdish autonomy within the new state; Ayatollah Khomeini rejected a Kurdish delegation's proposals, including a five-point plan raising the question of autonomy, and Sunni Kurds abstained from the April 1979 referendum establishing the Islamic Republic, which made no provision for regional autonomy. The resulting Kurdistan War, from 1979 to 1983, is reported to have killed approximately 10,000 Iranian Kurds and destroyed many Kurdish villages and towns; this bundle presents that figure as a reported estimate rather than an independently verified count.
- 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran (Wikipedia) link, Background and casualty sections. Source record