Kurdish parties call for a general strike in Iran in support of the protests
In an escalation aimed at unifying the opposition and supporting the growing popular movement, seven Iranian Kurdish opposition parties called for a nationwide general strike on Thursday across Kurdish regions and throughout Iran. This call comes as a strong message of solidarity with the protests that have gripped the Islamic Republic for the past 11 days and have spread to several cities and provinces.
A call to unite against oppression
Hassan Rahman Panah, a member of the central committee of the Kurdish opposition party Komala (based in northern Iraq and designated a terrorist organization by Tehran), confirmed to AFP that the seven parties agreed on this step to demonstrate "the unified support of the people of Kurdistan for the struggle and protests waged by the Iranian people against the regime." This coordination among the Kurdish parties reflects a desire to transcend political differences and focus on the common goal of supporting the demands of the people.
The death toll and the expansion of the protests
The spark for this wave of protests began on December 28 with a strike by merchants in Tehran's bazaar, and quickly spread to other areas, particularly in the west of the country where Kurdish and Lur minorities are concentrated. As the demonstrations intensified, so did the death toll, with Iran Human Rights (based in Norway) documenting the killing of at least 27 protesters by security forces or as a result of excessive violence in eight different provinces.
In contrast, official statistics reported by Iranian media indicate that 15 people were killed, including members of the security forces, while the number of detainees exceeded 1,000, indicating a widespread crackdown by the authorities to control the situation.
The economic and political dimensions of the crisis
These protests cannot be separated from the dire economic reality in Iran. In this context, Rahman Panah stated that "the Islamic Republic is incapable of meeting the protesters' demands," describing the Iranian economy as "collapsing" and social trust as "lost." These statements come amidst unprecedented inflation, a collapse in the value of the local currency, and the impact of international sanctions, which has led to a convergence of demands for basic necessities with political demands for freedom and dignity.
Echoes of Mahsa Amini's uprising
These protests are particularly significant as they are the largest and most organized since the widespread movement that erupted in September 2022 following the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police. That incident, which sparked global and domestic outrage, continues to cast a long shadow over the Iranian landscape, with the slogans of that period evolving into persistent demands for radical change. This places the Iranian regime before mounting internal challenges in parallel with external pressures.
