Iran arrests 11 Kurdish PJAK members over "sabotage"

TEHRAN,— Iranian authorities said Saturday that they have arrested 11 members of a banned Kurdish PJAK group on charges of planning acts of sabotage.

The detainees are alleged members of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistane) PJAK, which has been outlawed in Iran.

The arrests occurred following widespread anti-government protests last month that resulted in the deaths of thousands, including members of the security forces.

Fars news agency said the 11 suspects were in direct contact with PJAK operatives and were plotting actions to disrupt public security.

Mohsen Karimi, a regional commander with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, told the agency that authorities detained them before any attacks could occur.

PJAK was founded in 2004 and has links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a left-wing guerrilla movement that campaigns for political and cultural rights for Kurds. Both Turkey and the United States classify PJAK as a “terrorist” organization.

Authorities in Iran have said that most of those killed in January’s protests were security personnel or bystanders targeted by “terrorists” working on behalf of Iran’s perceived adversaries, the United States and Israel. International rights groups, however, have accused Iranian forces of deliberately attacking protesters.

PJAK, one of the most active Kurdish groups in Iranian Kurdistan, seeks to establish semi-autonomous Kurdish regions or federal states within Iran. The group reportedly has more than 3,000 armed members, roughly half of whom are women.

Since the 1979 establishment of the Islamic regime, Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan have faced discrimination in social, economic, and political spheres.

Authorities restrict cultural and religious practices, including bans on registering children with certain Kurdish names, and target religious minorities who are Kurdish either wholly or in part.

Kurds also face barriers in accessing jobs, housing, and political rights, contributing to widespread poverty and social marginalization.

Authorities estimate that more than 12 million Kurds live in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat Kurdistan).

(With files from AFP)