The Islamic Republic of Iran is continuing to use the series of mysterious assassinations that took place in the Kurdish city of Snne (Sanandaj) as a pretext to crack down on Kurdish political activists. Press TV, which is the regimes English speaking television, have made a program about the assassinations, in which they interview so-called experts that blame America, Briain and Al-Qaeda for the rise and actions of religious fanatics in Iranian Kurdistan.

For a person that does not know how these groups emerged, a documentary like this is very misleading. I wrote an article about the assassinations for Kurdish Aspect:

The Iranian regime first blamed Kurdish opposition groups and then foreign agents for the assassinations. But in the end, the regime announced that Sunni extremists linked to Al-Qaeda had carried out the assassinations. In retaliation, the regime undertook a series of “operations” in the city, targeting suspected Sunni extremists, killing four and arresting fourteen.

The Sunni-extremists that Iran is claiming to be behind the assassinations are a network of groups that the Islamic Republic supported, funded and in some cases even established. They were being used by Iran in an attempt to curb Kurdish nationalism in Iranian Kurdistan as well as in Iraqi Kurdistan. Some of these groups even controlled large territories around the districts of Halabja and Penjwen in Iraqi Kurdistan on the Iran-Iraq border until 2003, when American Special Forces in coordination with Iraqi-Kurdish Peshmerga units, managed to force them back into Iran.

These groups reorganized and resettled, with Iran’s consent and support, in cities like Mariwan, Snne and Paveh in Iranian Kurdistan. Never during the last couple of years have these groups targeted the Islamic Republic. On the contrary, they have continuously targeted secular Kurdish political activists who struggle for the attainment of Kurdish national rights. Since the Islamic Republic regards secular Kurdish political activists as a “strategic threat” to its “territorial integrity,” its alliance of convenience with Al-Qaeda offshoots against secular Kurdish nationalism is consistent with Tehran’s overall tactical and strategic calculations. Its support for the Taliban in Afghanistan against NATO-forces is an example of a similar calculation.

Iran is using these assassinations to both legitimize its crack down on Kurdish activists and to send a signal to the international community stating that they also have a “terrorist” problem.

by: Loghman Ahmadi