The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) fears that – in connection with the mass protests against the Iranian Mullah regime – Iran might carry out a large-scale invasion into neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan. “The Iranian army has been attacking Kurdish villages in northern Iraq for a several days now. Back in the 1980s, Iranian Kurds had fled to the region to find shelter from attacks by the Mullah regime,” stated Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East Consultant of the STP. “Iran is using fighter drones, rocket launchers, and heavy artillery. Now, it has to be feared that the regime will follow the example of Turkey and invade Iraqi Kurdistan.” Just like the Bosphorus state – which is a NATO member – the Iranian government could claim to be fighting “separatists” and “terrorists” there. “The Mullahs are under pressure from the Iran-wide protest movement. Using anti-Kurdish propaganda and attacks on the neighboring country, they are trying to divide the protesters and to turn them against each other,” Sido explained. “However, all Kurdish parties in Iran are demanding a democratic and federally organized country. None of them are advocating for a secession.” In their statements, all Kurdish parties had appealed to the people in Iranian Kurdistan (East Kurdistan) to protest peacefully so as not to give the regime a reason for even more violence.

Contact persons of the STP reported 165 arrests in East Kurdistan. Some even mentioned numbers of up to 1000. “As inmates of Iranian prisons are often tortured and abused, their families are very concerned. According to our sources, at least 18 Kurds have been killed, and 900 were injured,” Sido added. “Many fear to seek treatment in hospitals. They have to find provisional treatment underground.”

In addition to the Persians, the multinational state of Iran is also a home to Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Balochs, Turkmens, Armenians, and Assyrians – plus several smaller religious minorities such as the Bahai, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. More than 50 percent of the approximately 85 million inhabitants of the country belong to the non-Persian nationalities. However, they are not recognized as individual peoples with their own language, culture, and history. They often become victims of discrimination and oppression, and it is especially the religious minorities of the Bahai and the Christian converts that are suffering from brutal attacks by the Shiite-Islamic regime.