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Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Kurdish political party in Iran

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) is the oldest leftist separatist movement representing Kurds in Iran. Exiled in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq with international branches, the KDPI fights for Kurdish rights through calls for either an independent Kurdish state or a federal system within Iran. Banned and labeled a terrorist organization by Iran, it has waged a persistent guerrilla war since 1979, including involvement in the 1967 revolt, the 1979–1989 insurgency, its 1989–1996 insurgency, and the 2016 clashes.

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History

Early years

On 16 August 1945, Qazi Mihemed founded the party under the name Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) in Mahabad, Iran.8 On 22 January 1946, the Republic of Kurdistan would be declared, of which he formally became president. The republic lasted less than a year before the USSR's occupation of Iran ended and the Imperial Iranian Army under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi reclaimed the short-lived Kurdish state on 15 December 1946.9 After the fall of the republic, many PDK members were arrested and executed by the Iranian Government, including Mihemed, nearly ending the party.10

After Qazi Mihemed's death

After the collapse and death of legendary leader Qazi Mihemed the party had to experience a long and difficult recovery process.

The collapse led to the PDK becoming reliant on the Tudeh Party, until the party saw a short revival under the anti-Shah administration of Mohammad Mosaddegh (1951–53), but was again weakened when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took over the country in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état.11

The party’s first conference was held in 1955 and was an important step towards restoring the party's independence and popular support. The conference insisted on the independence of the party from other organizations, effectively ending relations with the Tudeh. Jalil Gadani, a long-time member of the party, recalls that during the conference the word Iran was added, renaming it PDKI.12

In 1958, the PDKI was on the verge of unifying with the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), but faield after it dismantled by the SAVAK secret police. The remains of the PDKI continued to support the KDP, but this changed when the Shah started aiding the KDP, which fought against the Iraqi regime that had overthrown the royal Hashemite dynasty. In return for the Shah's aid, the KDP decreased its support for the PDKI.13

Later the PDKI reorganised itself, marginalising its pro-KDP leader Abdullah Ishaqi (also known as Ehmed Tewfiq), adding new communist and nationalist members, and forming the Revolutionary Committee to continue the fight against the Iranian government. The Committee began an unsuccessful revolt in March 1967, which ended after 18 months of fighting and forced the party to retreat into exil in Iraqi Kurdistan.141516

After reforms by new leader, Abdulrahman Ghassemlou, the PDKI renewed its struggle and fought alongside Islamist and Marxist movements against the Shah, culminating in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.1718 Khomeini's new Islamic Republic, however, refused the Kurdish demands, further suppressing the PDKI and other Kurdish parties. The PDKI continued its activities in exile, hoping to achieve "Kurdish national rights within a Democratic Federal Republic of Iran".19

During the Islamic Republic of Iran

In 1981,during the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq supported the party in the Iranian cities of Nowdesheh and Qasr-e Shirin and provided weapons to the PKDI.20 This move was made so that the party stops the Iranian Army from using the Tehran-Baghdad highway. The PKDI hopes were to establish a level of autonomy in the area. However, the Iranian forces staged a series of debilitating attacks against the KDPI, leaving them a "marginal military factor during much of the Iran–Iraq War".21

Vienna assassination

On 13 July 1989, the then PDKI leader Abdulrahman Ghassemlou arrived in Vienna with his delegation to have talks with Iranian diplomats regarding the terms of reconciliation between the central government in Tehran and the Kurds. Those were not the only talks with Iran held in Vienna. After they entered the conference hall and the talks started, the Iranian "diplomats" took out automatic firearms and murdered all of the members of the Kurdish delegation, including Ghassemlou.22

Mykonos restaurant assassinations

Sadıq Şerefqendi's murder became an international incident between Germany and Iran. On 17 September 1992, PDKI leaders Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fettah Abduli, Humayûn Erdelan and their translator Nûri Dêkurdi were assassinated at the Mykonos Greek restaurant in Berlin, Germany.23 In the Mykonos trial, the courts found Kazem Darabi, an Iranian national who worked as a grocer in Berlin, and Lebanese Abbas Rhayel, guilty of murder and sentenced them to life in prison. Two other Lebanese, Youssef Amin and Mohamed Atris, were convicted of being accessories to murder. In its 10 April 1997 ruling, the court issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian intelligence minister Hojjat al-Islam Ali Fallahian24 after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with knowledge of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ayatollah Rafsanjani.25

1996 unilateral ceasefire

In 1996, the PDKI had to declare a unilateral ceasefire, after being hard hit by relentless Iranian attacks.26

Modern era

In 1997, the party's call for abstaining the presidential election remained largely ignored by Kurdish citizens in Iran and amid a high turnout in Kurdistan Province, a large number voted for Mohammad Khatami.27

2006 party split

From 1992-2004, Abdullah Hassanzadeh was the secretary-general for the PDKI and after 2004 Mustafa Hijri took charge. During Hijri's time as the secretary-general there were several members all over the world and in Iraqi Kurdistan that weren't satisfied with his work. So during the 13th congress in november 2006 party members told him to back down from his position, but Hijri rejected, which ultimately led to month-long intra party talks, where members tried to avoid a party split and to get a deal with Hijri. Hijri rejected all offers and on 1 December 2006 the Kurdistan Democratic Party (HDK) was founded after it split from the Hijri's PDKI.

2016 renewing of the armed struggle

In 2016, the organization announced it was reviving its armed struggle following death of Farinaz Khosravani and subsequent Mahabad riots.28 The Kurdistan Freedom Party and Komala declared their support for the announcement. This led to the Western Iran Clashes (2016).29

In the same year an Iranian agent planted a bomb near the party's headquarter, the Democrat Castle, which led to the deaths of 6 HDK and KDPI members.

2018 missile attack on the party headquarters

On 8 September 2018 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force launched seven Fateh-110 missiles at the Democrat Castle in Koya while a HDK meeting was underway. The missiles got a direct hit on where the meeting was taking place at the Democrat Castle killing a total of 18 HDK and KDPI members. 50 HDK/KDPI members were injured, including HDK leaders Xalıd Ezizi and Mustafa Mewlûdi. A number of important members and commanders were killed, including Mihemed Hesenpûr, Nesrin Hedad and Rehman Piroti.

2022 attack on Koya

In 2022, the IRGC and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent ballistic missiles and several Shahed drones which attacked a school at Azadi Settlement. The ballistic missiles nearly hit the school but instead got a hit beside the school which killed in total 17 teachers and parents, and 1 child. After the attacks on the school Iranian military helicopters were flying around the area and released triangle spikes which made it hard for cars to drive between the school, the Azadi Settlement, the Amiriya Settlement and Democrat Castle. Similar attacks continued the following days and casualties had increased to 18 deaths and 62 injuries, as of October 4 2022. On November 14, Iranian airstrikes on Koya and the party headquarters continued, killing at least two people and injuring 10 other KDPI members. As a result of the attacks 72 civilians and KDPI members were injured and 37 civilians and KDPI members were killed. Further Iranian missile strikes on 21 November 2022 destroyed more houses in Koy Sanjaq.

Reunification

Both groups, the PDKI and HDK, reunited on August 21, 2022 and resumed their political and military activities under the name of the PDKI.30

New leading team

The leading team is called the Executive Board until the joint Congress. The board consists of 12 members and is being led by Mustafa Hijri. The Executive Board Abroad has 6 members, namely: Kwestan Gadani, Azad Azizi, Mohammad Rasoul Karimi, Aso Saleh, Kawe Abdali and Rahim Mohammedzadeh.

Military wing

The military wing of the PDKI are the PDKI Peshmerga. Hyeran Jo of Texas A&M University classifies the KDPI fighters as "compliant rebels", i.e. rebels that kill fewer than 100 people and refrain from killing for more than half of their operating years.31

Ethics

According to Jo, in order to gain domestic and international legitimacy, the KDPI denounces violence against civilians, claiming commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Geneva Convention Article 3, and as of 2007 is one of the signatories to the Geneva Call's ban on anti-personnel mines.32

PDKI congresses

The PDKI has held seventeen congresses. These occurred in 1945, 1955, 1964, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2018, 2022 and 2025.33

During the 20th Congress of the Socialist International, held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City (9–11 September 1996), the PDKI was given the status of observer member. In 2005, the PDKI's membership was elevated to consultative status.

PDKI Headquarters over the years

PDKI has had a lot of different headquarters including in both Iranian Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan, here is a list of all the Headquarters that PDKI has had over the years:

Secretaries-General

References

  1. Buchta, Wilfried (2000), Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, pp. 102, 104, ISBN 978-0-944029-39-8 978-0-944029-39-8 ↩

  2. United Kingdom: Home Office, Country Information and Guidance - Iran: Kurds and Kurdish political groups, July 2016, Version 2.0, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/578f67c34.html [accessed 18 March 2017] http://www.refworld.org/docid/578f67c34.html ↩

  3. Golnaz Esfandiari (29 June 2016). "Explainer: What's Behind Sudden Clashes In Northwestern Iran?". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 29 September 2016. http://www.rferl.org/a/iran-kurdish-clashes-iraq-border-explainer/27828869.html ↩

  4. "Iranian Kurds Return to Arms". Stratfor. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016. https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/iranian-kurds-return-arms ↩

  5. "Freedom House", Freedom in the World 2011: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011, p. 321, ISBN 978-1-4422-0996-1 978-1-4422-0996-1 ↩

  6. Alex Peter Schmid; A. J. Jongman (2005). "Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran". Political terrorism: a new guide to actors, authors, concepts, data bases, theories, & literature. Transaction Publishers. p. 579. ISBN 978-1-4128-0469-1. 978-1-4128-0469-1 ↩

  7. Buchta, Wilfried (2000), Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, pp. 102, 104, ISBN 978-0-944029-39-8 978-0-944029-39-8 ↩

  8. Ghassemlou, A.R. (1993). "Kurdistan in Iran". In Gérard Chaliand (ed.). A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan. London: Zed Books. pp. 106–118. ISBN 978-1-85649-194-5. 978-1-85649-194-5 ↩

  9. McDowall, David (2004). "Tribe or ethnicity? The Mahabad Republic". A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. Vol. 3rd. I.B.Tauris. pp. 240–241. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0. 978-1-85043-416-0 ↩

  10. Tamadonfar, Mehran (2015). "Civil Society in Iranian Political Life". Islamic Law and Governance in Contemporary Iran: Transcending Islam for Social, Economic, and Political Order. Lexington Books. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-4985-0757-8. 978-1-4985-0757-8 ↩

  11. Hashem Ahmadzadeh, Gareth Stansfield (23 January 2010). The Political, Cultural, and Military Re-Awakening of the Kurdish Nationalist Movement in Iran (PDF). p. 15. doi:10.3751/64.1.11. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12827573.pdf ↩

  12. Hashem Ahmadzadeh, Gareth Stansfield (23 January 2010). The Political, Cultural, and Military Re-Awakening of the Kurdish Nationalist Movement in Iran (PDF). p. 15. doi:10.3751/64.1.11. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12827573.pdf ↩

  13. McDowall, David (2004). "Iran: Creating a national movement". A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. Vol. 3rd. I.B.Tauris. pp. 249–254. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0. 978-1-85043-416-0 ↩

  14. Ghassemlou, A.R. (1993). "Kurdistan in Iran". In Gérard Chaliand (ed.). A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan. London: Zed Books. pp. 106–118. ISBN 978-1-85649-194-5. 978-1-85649-194-5 ↩

  15. Tamadonfar, Mehran (2015). "Civil Society in Iranian Political Life". Islamic Law and Governance in Contemporary Iran: Transcending Islam for Social, Economic, and Political Order. Lexington Books. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-4985-0757-8. 978-1-4985-0757-8 ↩

  16. McDowall, David (2004). "Iran: Creating a national movement". A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. Vol. 3rd. I.B.Tauris. pp. 249–254. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0. 978-1-85043-416-0 ↩

  17. "Praguer Ghassemlou". Yekta Uzunoglu. Retrieved 2018-07-04.[dead link] http://yektauzunoglu.com/en/2016/07/19/praguer-ghassemlou/ ↩

  18. McDowall, David (2004). "Iran: Creating a national movement". A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. Vol. 3rd. I.B.Tauris. pp. 249–254. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0. 978-1-85043-416-0 ↩

  19. Tamadonfar, Mehran (2015). "Civil Society in Iranian Political Life". Islamic Law and Governance in Contemporary Iran: Transcending Islam for Social, Economic, and Political Order. Lexington Books. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-4985-0757-8. 978-1-4985-0757-8 ↩

  20. Entessar, Nader. "The Kurdish Factor in Iran-Iraq Relations". The Middle East Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2017. http://www.mei.edu/content/kurdish-factor-iran-iraq-relations ↩

  21. Entessar, Nader. "The Kurdish Factor in Iran-Iraq Relations". The Middle East Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2017. http://www.mei.edu/content/kurdish-factor-iran-iraq-relations ↩

  22. "Hostage - 4". Yekta Uzunoglu. Retrieved 2018-07-04.[dead link] http://yektauzunoglu.com/en/2018/03/12/hostage-4/ ↩

  23. "Hostage - 1". Yekta Uzunoglu. Retrieved 2018-07-04.[dead link] http://yektauzunoglu.com/en/2018/03/04/hostage-1/ ↩

  24. Melman, Yossi (2008-04-02). "Israel fails to prevent Germany freeing Iranian". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2012-02-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20090401091011/http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/911622.html ↩

  25. Hakakian, Roya (4 October 2007). "The End of the Dispensable Iranian". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 31 January 2009. http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,476369,00.html ↩

  26. Spyer, Jonathan (2016-12-17). "Iranian Kurds Join the Fight". Jonathan Spyer. Retrieved 2025-06-17. https://jonathanspyer.com/2016/12/17/iranian-kurds-join-the-fight/ ↩

  27. Roger Howard (2004). Iran in Crisis?: The Future of the Revolutionary Regime and the US Response. Indiana Series in Middle East Studies. Zed Books. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-84277-475-5. 978-1-84277-475-5 ↩

  28. Return to Arms: Hadaka. 26 Apr 2017. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 November 2017. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2017/04/return-arms-hadaka-170424172311654.html ↩

  29. Spyer, Jonathan (2016-12-17). "Iranian Kurds Join the Fight". Jonathan Spyer. Retrieved 2025-06-17. https://jonathanspyer.com/2016/12/17/iranian-kurds-join-the-fight/ ↩

  30. "Kurdish opposition parties of Iran reunite after years of being separated". Kurdipedia.org (in Kurdish). Retrieved 2025-06-17. https://www.kurdipedia.org/?q=20220822075036429603 ↩

  31. Hyeran Jo (2015). Compliant Rebels: Rebel Groups and International Law in World Politics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-1-107-11004-5. 978-1-107-11004-5 ↩

  32. Hyeran Jo (2015). Compliant Rebels: Rebel Groups and International Law in World Politics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-1-107-11004-5. 978-1-107-11004-5 ↩

  33. "About". Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2022-07-10. https://pdki.org/english/about/ ↩

  34. Michael M. Gunter (2010). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Scarecrow Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-8108-7507-4. 978-0-8108-7507-4 ↩