Iranian victory Interim Government KDP-I Komala IPFG[1] OIPFG (Minority)[2][3]Sipay Rizgari[4] Supported by: Ruhollah Khomeini Mehdi Bazargan Ahmad Keshvari (WIA) Abulhassan Banisadr Mohammad-Ali Rajai X Mohammad-Javad Bahonar Mostafa Chamran Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani Ali Khamenei Mir-Hossein Mousavi Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou X Foad Mostafa Soltani † Abdullah Mohtadi Sedigh Kamangar Jafar Shafiyi IRI Army 45,000 total casualties [7] 12 Iranian officers executed for refusing to fight[7] 1945–1979 1979–present The 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran was one of the largest nationwide uprisings in the country against the new state following the Iranian Revolution.
[7] Kurdish groups initially tried to align with Iran's new government in an attempt to emphasize their own Muslim identity and to seek common ground with other Iranians.
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), who strongly campaigned for political autonomy, briefly identified as a non-separatist organization, even criticizing those calling for independence from the state.
[6][3] A portion of the Naqshbandi order also opposed the new state, aligning with the Iraqi army and forming the Sipay Rizgari militant group, under the guidance of Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din.
[4] Kurdish militants, primarily from the KDPI, initially made territorial gains in Mahabad and temporarily ousted Iranian troops from the region, but a large-scale offensive in spring 1980 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reversed the course of the conflict.
The start of the Iran–Iraq War in September 1980 saw the Iranian government increasing efforts to snuff the Kurdish rebellion, the only 1979 uprising that remained, in part due to the province's proximity to the Iraqi border.
After failed rebellions in 1946 and 1967, Kurdish political organizations continued to push for revolution against the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a move that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power in February 1979.
[citation needed] KDPI leader Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou was barred from joining the Assembly of Experts, the group responsible for writing the new constitution in 1979, despite winning a seat with 34.9% of the vote.
[16] Unrest was then alleged to have spread to other Kurdish-dominated regions such as Divan Darreh, Saqqez, and Mahabad as Kurds took over towns and army garrisons to keep the Iranian military at bay.
The Kurdish Peshmerga retreated into the mountains during the attacks and resumed their offensive six weeks later, returning to Mahabad and using Molotov cocktails and rocket-propelled grenades to fight the Iranian troops.
At the end of November, while the Iranian government was occupied with other events in the country such as the American Embassy hostage crisis, the Kurds sieged Sanandaj, Saqqez, and other captured cities and towns.
[17] In late January, after President Banisadr took office, Revolutionary Guard units and government-aligned Kurds unsuccessfully attacked rebels in the region, resulting in a stalemate that lasted until spring.
Iranian-Iraqi tensions grew amid Iraqi attacks on Qasr-e Shirin and Sarpol-e Zahab, prompting Iran to move its army to the border.
Neither Baghdad nor Tehran were willing to accept that outcome and both sides insisted on organizing special loyalist Kurdish military units to participate in the war and to demonstrate allegiance to their respective states.
[17] In January 1981, the Iraqi army successfully established a supply line to KDPI strongholds through Nowdesheh and Qasr-e Shirin, and began sending military equipment their way.
[citation needed] Despite the KDPI's military defeat, armed remnants of the group continued to shelter in northern Iraq[27] and engage in low-level campaigns against Iranian forces.
February 1979 March 1979 April 1979 June 1979 July 1979 August 1979 September 1979 October 1979 November 1979 December 1979 In 2006, Ettela'at photographer Jahangir Razmi released 27 photos he had taken of the 1979 firing squad execution of eleven Kurdish prisoners.