Khomeini's jihad decree against Kurdistan

Culture of origin: Kurdish · Historical

Holiday sources: Kurdish

On 18 August 1979 Ruhollah Khomeini ordered the commanders of the army, the gendarmerie and the Revolutionary Guards to pursue and arrest the opposition in Kurdistan, seal its borders and hand detainees straight to the courts; the next day, 28 Mordad 1358, he called them "corruptors" and "counter-revolutionaries" to be dealt with severely. Kurds remember these orders as the jihad fatwa. Revolutionary Guards with heavy weapons and air support moved first on Paveh and Hawraman, and after Paveh fell Sadegh Khalkhali arrived as Islamic judge and had dozens of people, among them wounded men, teachers and doctors, shot after field trials. The assault spread to Sanandaj, Marivan, Saqqez and Mahabad and then to the villages; on 2 September Revolutionary Guards massacred the people of Qarna. Between 19 and 29 August alone at least 58 Kurds were executed, some within hours of arrest, without counsel or appeal; at Sanandaj airport eleven prisoners were shot after a 30-minute trial, the scene of Jahangir Razmi's photograph "Firing Squad in Iran", which won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize. According to Amnesty International, most Kurdish villages and towns were destroyed, about 10,000 Kurds were killed and thousands were sentenced to death after summary trials. No independent investigation has ever been held. Iranian Kurdish parties mark the anniversary on 28 Mordad every year.