The government has blamed Kurdish opposition organizations for stirring the unrest following Mahsa Amini’s death, but experts say this is a bogus accusation and that the protests involve all segments of Iranian society.
According to an Iranian researcher, the Iranian government blames Kurdish separatists for stirring continuous widespread unrest, which poses a significant problem.
After the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian lady, in the custody of the morality police, demonstrations calling for the removal of Iran’s clerical leadership have continued for four months.
Yassamine Mather, a professor, stated, “For the administration, it’s convenient to suggest that these are Kurdish separatists.”
An academic from Oxford University told, “The demonstrators view themselves as part of a much larger Iran movement.”
The regime’s ruthless crackdown has resulted in the deaths of over 470 demonstrators, according to the activist news agency HRANA. Ms. Amini, who was 22 years old, is being used as a rallying cry and symbol.
The government has blamed other nations for orchestrating the demonstrations, claiming that they pose the greatest challenge to its control in decades.
The dictatorship has also blamed its Kurdish people, the majority of whom reside close to the Iraqi border.
A conservative Iranian security official told Reuters, “The Kurdish opposition groups are using Amini’s tragedy as a justification to achieve their decades-long objective of splitting Kurdistan from Iran, but they will fail.”
Iranian state media have referred to the statewide rallies as a “political scheme” orchestrated by Kurdish separatist groups, namely the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.
Ms. Amini was from the Kurdish city of Saqqez, which witnessed the first protests following her killing in September.
Ms. Mather stated, “The online demonstrations I’ve observed and the slogans I’ve read do not indicate” a separatist intent.
“On the contrary, they seem to emphasize their role in a greater Iran, as if they are appealing for support from Baluchistan, Tehran, and Azerbaijan,” she said.
If you desired separation, you would not act in this manner.
The regime appeared to concede to the protesters when the attorney general claimed the morality police, which enforces the country’s strict dress code, had been disbanded. However, the interior ministry has not confirmed the claim, and state media has since reported that the official in question is not in charge of the force.
The entirety of Iran stood up.
Samira, a 42-year-old mother of two adolescent boys, resides in the regional capital of the Kurdistan region in northwestern Iran, Sanandaj.
She told that her people have been oppressed for decades due to their Kurdish origins and Sunni Islam.
She stated, “We as Kurds seek our human rights and have no interest in splitting Kurdistan from Iran, contrary to what the government promotes.”
“It is only inevitable that the more they abuse our liberties, the greater the calls for federalism and separation.
“However, the fact that the entire country stood up when a Kurdish girl was murdered demonstrates that Iranians of all backgrounds and tribes are united and support one another.”
Dr. Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, a lecturer at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, stated that the protests are “definitely not predominantly sectarian” and involve “every stratum of Iranian society.”
He stated: “At the heart of Iran lies an ancient culture, a shared historical memory, and shared rites and rituals.
In contrast, the Iranian government strives to mobilize a weary populace around an ideology that denies this inborn diversity.
Dr. Adib-Moghaddam, author of What Is Iran?, adds, “The Iranian state is sensible enough not to sectarianize this dispute and perhaps realistic enough to comprehend that the protests target Iran’s recent reluctance to reform and, by extension, the concept of the Islamic Republic.”
Additionally, the Iranian government has accused Kurdish opposition groups located in northern Iraq of instigating the protesters and importing weapons into the nation.
Kurdish factions have refuted these assertions without any evidence being offered by the authorities.
Nonetheless, during a visit to Baghdad last month, a senior Iranian military official warned Iraq of a ground military operation if the Iraqi army did not fortify the shared border with Kurdish resistance forces.
Khelil Nadri, a spokeswoman for the Kurdistan Freedom party, told the Financial Times, “We are being used as a scapegoat.”
