VZCZCXRO8410
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0101/01 1181534
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 281534Z APR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 0600
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0638
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0666

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, PAO, ROL COORDINATOR, NCT, IRMO, USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/25/2016 
TAGS: PINS PHUM PNAT PREF PREL PINR PGOV KDEM KCOR
KISL, IZ, IR 
SUBJECT: IRANIAN KURDS ORGANIZING AGAINST TEHRAN 
 
REF: KIRKUK 99 
 
KIRKUK 00000101  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: JBIGUS, PRT LEADER, REO Kirkuk, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  According to an Iranian journalist in hiding 
in Northern Iraq, Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been 
cracking down on the Kurds in Iran and has caused souring 
relations between the Iranian Government and minorities.  The 
Iranian Government under Ahmadinejad has become more religious, 
yet less respectful of civil society and human rights.  Iranian 
Kurds remain politically active through secret organizations and 
parties.  The bulk of the Iranian Kurd population is young, 
politically active, and prone to revolt.  Most Iranian Kurds 
rely on the internet to communicate and understand developments. 
 END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Mahdeh Ahmadi, a freelance journalist who writes 
political stories about Iranian Kurds and is now living in 
northern Iraq, shared his views on the current Iranian regime 
with PRT on April 4.  Ahmadi has asked PRT for political asylum 
in the U.S.(REFTEL).  After consulting with Baghdad RefCoord, 
PRT has advised Ahmadi to contact UNHCR. 
 
Kurds Resisting Ahmadinejad Government 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Ahmadi bemoaned that Iranian President Ahmadinejad 
marked the end of the reformist era in Iranian politics.  He 
said that while the Kurds had enjoyed more rights under the 
reformists, Ahmadinejad was cracking down on the Kurds.  Ahmadi 
attributed the the Iranian administration's souring relations 
with all minority groups to Ahmadinejad.  Iranian minorities 
complained that the government was more religious, yet less 
respectful of civil society and human rights. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Ahmadi believed that the Iranian Government was trying 
to smother all groups that protested against the regime, 
suppressing demonstrations by Kurds, Arabs, and Turkoman.  He 
complained that Iranian authorities were responding brutally to 
Kurdish demonstrations with arrests and killings.  Kurds 
recently held separate demonstrations in Simr and Mako, and the 
Government stifled them.  He lamented that Kurdish political 
parties remained outlawed.  Ahmadi said the Iranian Government 
had organized a committee to understand and mitigate minority 
demonstrations, but it was ineffective. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Ahmadi characterized the Kurds in Sinna and Mahabad as 
highly educated and outspoken about political, social, and human 
rights abuses.  He claimed Iranian Kurds were organizing to 
remove Ahmadinejad. 
 
Iranian Kurds Covertly Organize Political Parties 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6.  (C)  When asked how Iranian Kurds organized themselves 
politically, Ahmadi said they were active in secret 
organizations and parties.  He said the KDP-I (Kurdistan 
Democratic Party - Iran) was the oldest and largest Iranian-Kurd 
political party inside and outside of Iran. 
 
¶7.  (C)  As for the ties between the KDP-I and the Iraqi KDP, 
Ahmadi said the two parties shared good but "complicated" 
relations.  The parties reportedly coordinated on the secret 
level and transferred academics and other professionals back and 
forth to educate and support one another.  Ahmadi claimed that 
KDP leader Masud Barzani was a more popular leader among the 
Kurds in Iran than PUK head Jalal Talabani because of Barzani's 
positions on Kurdish nationalism.  Ahmadi asserted that the PUK, 
however, is more popular among the educated and younger Iranian 
Kurds.  The PUK supported several Kurdish cultural groups and 
newspapers in Iran. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Ahmadi told us that several Iraqi Kurd political party 
representatives had approached him to join their parties since 
he arrived in Iraq in January, but he declined.  As a 
journalist, he preferred to avoid political party affiliation 
because he refused to be bound by political party lines or 
agendas.  Ahmadi boasted that he had become a respected 
journalist because he resisted the Iranian regime in jail and 
was politically independent. 
 
Mostly Young Activists Communicating Via Internet 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶9.  (C)  Ahmadi said the bulk of the Iranian Kurd population is 
young and politically active.  The youth are angry and prone to 
revolt, while the older generation is more religious.   When 
 
KIRKUK 00000101  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
asked about future Iranian Kurdish leaders, he said there were 
many Kurds becoming leaders of student unions, NGO's, and civil 
society in Iran.  Ahmadi noted, however, that the most popular 
Kurd leaders lived outside Iran. 
 
¶10.  (C)  Ahmadi said most Iranian Kurds relied on the internet 
for communication and information about what is going on in the 
world.  He said that the Iranian Government prohibits Kurds 
from owning satellite dishes, but those in the mountains had 
dishes anyway and mostly watched "Rosh TV," which focused on 
Iranian Kurdish issues.  Ahmadi said Rosh TV and "Voice of 
America" radio were effective outlets to circulate information. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11.  (C)  Ahmadi appeared familiar with U.S. positions on Iran 
and on human rights and may have reported this information to 
influence, as well as inform us of events on the ground.  He 
certainly spoke from a Kurdish minority, secular optic.  He has 
expressed a desire to obtain political asylum in the United 
States, and may be slanting his story in hopes of maximizing his 
chances.  Ahmadi's view that Iranian Kurds revere Masud Barzani 
as the top Kurdish leader, while preferring the PUK's political 
philosophy is noteworthy.  Although we have no strong reason to 
doubt Ahmadi's reporting, our lack of regular dialogue with 
Iranian Kurds limits our ability to verify his views. 
BIGUS