View source for Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan

{{Short description|Kurdish political party in Iran}}
{{Distinguish|Kurdistan Democratic Party (Iran)}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
| logo             = Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan logo.svg
| logo_size        = 100px
| colorcode        = red
| secretary_general = [[Mustafa Hijri|Mustefa Hicri]]
| split            = [[Tudeh Party of Iran]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|year=1982|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|isbn=0-691-10134-5|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=453|url=https://archive.org/details/iranbetweentwore00abra_0/page/453}}</ref>
| foundation       = {{Start date and age|1945|8|16|df=y}}
| ideology         = {{Nowrap|[[Kurdish separatism]]<ref name="KA">{{cite book|last1=Neuberger|first1=Benyamin|editor1-last=Bengio|editor1-first=Ofra|title=Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland
|date=2014|publisher=University Of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-75813-1|page=268}}</ref><br />[[Democratic socialism]]<ref name="KA"/><br />[[Social democracy]]<ref name="KA"/><br />[[Progressivism]]<ref name="KA"/><br />[[Secularism]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Monshipouri|first=Mahmood|entry=Kurds|year=2008|title=Iran Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Islamic Republic|volume=1|isbn=978-0-313-34163-2|publisher=Greenwood Press|page=223}}</ref><br />'''Historic:'''<br />[[Anti-imperialism]]<ref>{{cite book|date=1992|author=David McDowall
|publisher=Minority Rights Group|isbn=978-1-873194-30-0|title=The Kurds: A Nation Denied
|page=70|quote=The KDPI (which had moved to the left in the meantime) adopted an anti-imperialist position, declaring their opposition to the Shah's regime...}}</ref><br />[[Cultural conservatism|Conservative traditionalism]]<ref>{{cite book|date=2014|author=Abbas Valli|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-823-6|title=Kurds and the State in Iran: The Making of Kurdish Identity|page=28}}</ref>{{verify source|date=December 2021}}}}
| headquarters     = {{plainlist|
*[[Koy Sanjaq|Koye]], [[Iraqi Kurdistan]] Democrat Castle {{small|(closed since September 2023)}}<ref>{{cite book|page=240 |author=Andreas Wenger |author2=Alex Wilner|isbn=978-0-8047-8347-7|year=2012|title=Deterring Terrorism: Theory and Practice|publisher=Stanford University Press}}</ref>
*[[Mahabad|Mehabad]], [[Iran]] {{small|(historic)}}
}}
| international    = [[Socialist International]] {{small|(Consultative member)}}<br />[[Progressive Alliance]]<br />[[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]
| website          = {{URL|http://pdki.org}}
| country          = Iran
| membership_year  = 2008
| membership       = 1,200<ref name="BMI">{{citation|title=Iran Defence and Security Report, Including 5-Year Industry Forecasts|publisher=[[BMI Research|Business Monitor International]]|orig-date=Q1|year=2008|url=http://store.bmiresearch.com/iran-defence-security-report.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=2017-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228075112/http://store.bmiresearch.com/iran-defence-security-report.html|archive-date=2017-02-28}}</ref>
| native_name      = Hizbi Dêmokrati Kurdıstani Êran
| founder          = [[Qazi Muhammad|Qazi Mehemed]]
| position         = [[Centre-left politics|Centre-left]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/07/iranian-kurds-are-rising-up-against-the-mullahs.html|title=Iranian Kurds Are Rising Up Against the Mullahs|author=Abdulla Hawez|newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]]|access-date=29 January 2017|date=7 July 2016}}</ref><br />'''Historic:'''<br />[[Left-wing]]<ref>{{cite book|date=2016|author=Rodolfo Stavenhagen|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-25014-1|title=Ethnic Conflicts and the Nation-State|page=98}}</ref>
| national         = {{plainlist|
*[[Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran]]
**{{small|(2005–present)}}
*[[National Council of Resistance of Iran]]
**{{small|(1981–1985)}}<ref name="NCRI">{{Cite book |title=Terrornomics|editor=David Gold|pages=67–68|isbn=978-1-317-04590-8|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|chapter=An Analysis of the Role of the Iranian Diaspora in the Financial Support System of the ''Mujahedin-e-Khalq''|author=Mark Edmond Clark}}</ref>
*[[Coalition Front of Freedom-Seeking Parties|United Front of Progressive Parties]]
**{{small|(1946–1948)}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|year=1982|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|isbn=978-0-691-10134-7|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/iranbetweentwore00abra_0/page/301 301]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/iranbetweentwore00abra_0/page/301}}</ref>
}}
}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             =
| leaders          = [[Qazi Muhammad|Qazi Mehemed]] {{small|(1940s)}}<ref name=kurdishwarrior/>
| active           = {{plainlist|
*1945–1946
*1966–1967
*1977–1978<ref name="DH">{{cite book|last=Hiro|first=Dilip|year=2013|entry=Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran|title=A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Middle East|isbn=978-1-62371-033-0|publisher=Interlink Publishing}}</ref>
*1979–1996
*2016–''present''}}
| partof           =
| predecessor      =
| allies           = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Soviet Union]] {{small|(1945–1991)}}<ref>{{cite book|title=States in Disguise: Causes of State Support for Rebel|author=Belgin San-Akca
|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-025090-4|page=95|quote=For example, the Soviet Union supported the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), first against the shah's regime in Iran and then against the religious revolutionary regime. Throughout the Cold War period, the Soviet funds were regularly channeled to the KDPI.}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Iraq|1963}} [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] {{small|(1980–1988)}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Entessar|first=Nader|title=Kurdish Politics in the Middle East|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|location=Lanham|page=48|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7391-4039-0|oclc=430736528|quote=Throughout much of the 1980s, the KDPI received aid from the Ba'thi regime of Saddam Hussein, but Ghassemlou broke with Baghdad in 1988 after Iraq used chemical weapons against Kurds in Halabja and then forced Kurdish villagers to...}}</ref>
*'''Non-state allies:'''
*{{flagicon image|Flag of PUK.png}} [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]]<ref name="SAGE"/><ref>{{cite book|title=The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity|author=David Romano|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-68426-2|page=251|quote=The Iraqi PUK and Iranian KDPI have often assisted each other, and roughly 5,000 Kurdish volunteers from Turkey went to Iran to fight Khomeini's government forces in 1979.}}</ref>
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Komala.svg}} [[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Komala]] {{small|(1982−1984;<ref>{{cite book|title=Trouble Spots: The World Atlas of Strategic Information|author=Andrew Duncan|year=2000|publisher=Sutton|isbn=978-0-7509-2171-8|entry=Iran|quote=The KDPI and Komala agreed to cooperate in late 1982 and enjoyed two years of military success, but when they split...|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/troublespotsworl0000dunc}}</ref> since 2012)}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts, 2nd Edition [2 volumes]|author=Joseph R. Rudolph Jr.|year=2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-553-4|page=490|quote=Moreover, in August 2012, the KDPI and the Komala, now led by Abdullah Mohtadi, reached a strategic agreement calling for federalism in Iran to undo the national oppression suffered by the Kurds.}}</ref>
*{{flagicon image|Flag of the People's Mujahedin of Iran.svg}} [[People's Mujahedin of Iran|People's Mujahedin]] {{small|(1981–1985)}}<ref name="NCRI"/>
*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas (White).svg}} [[Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas|Fedai Guerrillas]] {{small|(1979–1981)}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Zabir|first=Sepehr|year=2012|title=Iran Since the Revolution (RLE Iran D)|isbn=978-1-136-83300-7|publisher=Taylor & Francis|pages=108–110}}</ref>
*{{flagicon image|Socialist red flag.svg}} [[Tudeh Party of Iran|Tudeh Party]] {{small|(1940s–1950s)}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds|author=Michael M. Gunter|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7507-4|page=133|quote=During the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) cooperated closely with the Tudeh, or Iranian Communist Party.}}</ref>
}}
| opponents        = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Iran|1964}} [[Pahlavi Iran|Imperial State of Iran]] {{small|(1945–1979)}}
*{{flagicon|Iran}} [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] {{small|(1979−present)}}
*'''Non-state opponents:'''
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Komala.svg}} [[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Komele]] {{small|(1984−1991)}}<ref>{{cite book|title=The Structure of Kurdish Society and the Struggle for a Kurdish State|author=Hussein Tahiri|year=2007|publisher=Mazda Publications|volume=8|series=Bibliotheca Iranica: Kurdish studies series|isbn=978-1-56859-193-3|page=144|quote=Between 1984 and 1991, the KDPI and Komala fought each other vigorously.}}</ref>
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Kurdistan Workers' Party.svg}} [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]] (sometimes)<ref>It is banned in Iran and thus not able to operate openly.{{Cite web |author=Hajir Sharifi |title=PKK- PDKI clash exposes decades of cold war |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/opinion/04062015 |access-date=2022-04-15 |website=Rudaw}}</ref>
}}
| area             = [[Iraqi Kurdistan]]; [[Kurdistan Province|Kurdistan]] and [[West Azerbaijan Province]]s in [[Iran]]
| size             = {{plainlist|
*12,750 infantry and cavalry (1946 estimate)<ref name=kurdishwarrior>
{{cite thesis|author=Michael G. Lortz|title=Willing to Face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces - the Peshmerga - from the Ottoman Empire to Present-day Iraq|chapter=The Kurdish Warrior Tradition and the Importance of the Peshmerga|date=2005|page=27|publisher=Florida State University Libraries|chapter-url=http://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu:175614/datastream/PDF/view|type=M.A.}}</ref>
*10,000–25,000 (1979–1983 estimate)<ref name="SAGE">{{cite book|author1=Jeffrey S. Dixon|author2=Meredith Reid Sarkees|title=A Guide to Intra-state Wars: An Examination of Civil, Regional, and Intercommunal Wars, 1816-2014|date=2015|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-5063-1798-4|pages=384–386|entry=INTRA-STATE WAR #816: Anti-Khomeini Coalition War of 1979 to 1983}}</ref>
*7,000–10,000 regulars plus 14,000–20,000 part-time guerillas (1980 estimate)<ref name="RP">{{cite book|last1=Razoux|first1=Pierre|date=2015|title=The Iran-Iraq War|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-91571-8|at=Appendix E: Armed Opposition}}</ref>
*12,000 Peshmergas along with 60,000 armed peasants (1982 estimate)<ref name="APS">{{cite book|author1=Alex Peter Schmid|author2=A. J. Jongman|title=Political terrorism: a new guide to actors, authors, concepts, data bases, theories, & literature|year=2005|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-0469-1|page=579|entry=Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran}}</ref>
*1,500 (1996 estimate)<ref name="DH"/>
*1,200–1,800 (2008 estimate)<ref name="BMI"/>
}}
| battles          =
}}
The '''Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan''' (PDKI; {{langx|ku|حیزبی دێموکراتی کوردستانی ئێران|Hizbi Dêmukrati Kurdıstani Êran}}, HDKA; {{langx|fa|حزب دموکرات کردستان ایران|Ḥezb-e Demokrāt-e Kordestān-e Īrān}}), also known as the '''Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran''' (KDPI), is an armed leftist [[separatist movement]] of [[Kurds]], exiled in northern [[Iraq]] with branch offices in Europe.<ref name="WRI">{{Citation|last1=Buchta|first1=Wilfried|title= Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic|publisher=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung| place=Washington DC|year=2000|isbn=978-0-944029-39-8|pages=102, 104}}</ref> It is banned in Iran and thus not able to operate openly.<ref>United Kingdom: Home Office, Country Information and Guidance - Iran: Kurds and Kurdish political groups, July 2016, Version 2.0, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/578f67c34.html [accessed 18 March 2017]
</ref> The group calls for either [[separatism]] in Iran or a [[federal system]].<ref name="stratfor">{{cite web|url=https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/iranian-kurds-return-arms|title=Iranian Kurds Return to Arms|publisher=[[Stratfor]]|date=29 July 2016|access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|contribution=[[Freedom House]]|title=Freedom in the World 2011: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4422-0996-1|page=321}}</ref><ref name="APS" />
Since 1979, KDPI has waged a persistent guerrilla war against [[Iran]].<ref name="WRI" /> This included the [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|1979–1983 Kurdish insurgency]], its [[KDPI insurgency (1989–96)|1989–1996 insurgency]] and [[2016 West Iran clashes|recent clashes in 2016]]. [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] officials have called the party a [[terrorist organization]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Golnaz Esfandiari|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/iran-kurdish-clashes-iraq-border-explainer/27828869.html|title=Explainer: What's Behind Sudden Clashes In Northwestern Iran?|publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|date=29 June 2016|access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref> Hyeran Jo of [[Texas A&M University]] classifies KDPI as "compliant rebels", i.e. rebels that kill fewer than 100 and refrain from killing for more than half of their operating years. According to Jo, in order to gain domestic and international legitimacy, the KDPI denounces violence against civilians, claiming commitment to the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] and [[Geneva Conventions#Common Article 3 relating to non-international armed conflict|Geneva Convention Article 3]], and as of 2007 is one of the signatories to the [[Geneva Call]]'s ban on anti-personnel mines.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hyeran Jo|year=2015|title=Compliant Rebels: Rebel Groups and International Law in World Politics|isbn=978-1-107-11004-5|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=125–126}}</ref>
==History==
=== Early years ===
[[Qazi Muhammad|Qazi Mehemed]] founded the PDKI in [[Mahabad|Mehabad]], [[Iran]], on 16 August 1945.<ref name="Chaliand1993"/> On 22 January 1946, Qazi Mehemed declared a Kurdish [[Republic of Kurdistan]], of which he formally became president. The Republic lasted less than a year: after the USSR retreated from the area, the Imperial Iranian army first reclaimed Iranian Azerbaijan, followed by Mehabad on 15 December 1946.<ref name="McDowall2004-240"/> After the fall of the Republic, many of the PDKI leaders were arrested and executed, effectively ending the party.<ref name="Tamadonfar2015"/>
=== Against Unification of Iran===
The PDKI cooperated with the [[Tudeh]] party and saw a short revival under the anti-[[Shah]] administration of [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]] (1951–53), but this ended after Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] took full control again in the [[1953 Iranian coup d'état]]. In 1958, the PDKI was on the verge of unifying with the Iraqi [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]] (KDP), but was then dismantled by the [[SAVAK]] secret police. The remains of the PDKI continued to support the KDP, but this changed as the Shah started aiding the KDP, which fought against the Iraqi regime that had overthrown the royal [[Kingdom of Iraq|Hashemite dynasty]]. In return for the Shah's aid, the KDP decreased its support for the PDKI.<ref name="McDowall2004-249"/>
The PDKI reorganised itself, marginalising its pro-KDP leader Abdullah Ishaqi (also known as Ehmed Tewfiq), adding new Communist and nationalist members, and forming the Revolutionary Committee to continue the struggle against the Iranian regime. The Committee began an unsuccessful [[1967 Kurdish revolt in Iran|revolution in March 1967]], ending after 18 months.<ref name="Chaliand1993"/><ref name="Tamadonfar2015"/><ref name="McDowall2004-249"/>
After reforms by a new leader, [[Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou|Abdurreman Qasımlo]], the PDKI fought alongside Islamic and Marxist movements against the Shah, culminating in the 1979 [[Iranian Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://yektauzunoglu.com/en/2016/07/19/praguer-ghassemlou/|title=Praguer Ghassemlou|work=Yekta Uzunoglu|access-date=2018-07-04|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="McDowall2004-249"/> [[Khomeini]]'s new Islamic Republic, however, refused the Kurdish demands, suppressing the PDKI and other Kurdish parties. The PDKI continued its activities in exile, hoping to achieve "Kurdish national rights within a Democratic Federal Republic of Iran".<ref name="Tamadonfar2015"/>
=== Against the Islamic Republic ===
In January 1981, Iraq supported the party in the Iranian cities of [[Nowdesheh]] and [[Qasr-e Shirin]] and provided weapons supplies to the PKDI.<ref name="mei.edu">{{cite web|last1=Entessar|first1=Nader|title=The Kurdish Factor in Iran-Iraq Relations|url=http://www.mei.edu/content/kurdish-factor-iran-iraq-relations|website=The Middle East Institute|access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref> This move was made so as the party stops Tehran from using the Tehran-Baghdad highway. The PKDI hoped as well to establish a level of autonomy in the area. However,  the Iranian forces staged a series of debilitating attacks against the KDPI, leaving them a "marginal military factor during much of the [[Iran–Iraq War]]".<ref name="mei.edu"/>
In 1997, the party's call for abstaining the [[1997 Iranian presidential election|presidential election]] remained largely ignored by Kurdish citizens in Iran and amid a high turnout in [[Kurdistan Province]], a large number voted for [[Mohammad Khatami]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Roger Howard|title=Iran in Crisis?: The Future of the Revolutionary Regime and the US Response|date=2004|publisher=Zed Books|series=Indiana Series in Middle East Studies|page=185|isbn=978-1-84277-475-5}}</ref>
In 2016, the organization announced it was reviving its armed struggle following death of Farinaz Khosravani and subsequent [[Mahabad riots]].<ref name="iranianimperialism" >[http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2017/04/return-arms-hadaka-170424172311654.html Return to Arms: Hadaka]. 26 Apr 2017. ''Al Jazeera''. Retrieved 15 November 2017.</ref>
==Mykonos restaurant assassinations==
[[Sadeq Sharafkandi|Sadıq Şerefqendi]]'s murder became an international incident between Germany and Iran. On 17 September 1992, PDKI leaders Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fettah Abduli, Humayûn Erdelan and their translator Nûri Dêkurdi were assassinated at the [[Mykonos restaurant assassinations|Mykonos Greek restaurant]] in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://yektauzunoglu.com/en/2018/03/04/hostage-1/|title=Hostage - 1|work=Yekta Uzunoglu|access-date=2018-07-04|language=en-US}}</ref> In the Mykonos trial, the courts found [[Kazem Darabi]], an [[Iran]]ian national who worked as a grocer in Berlin, and [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] Abbas Rhayel, guilty of murder and sentenced them to life in prison. Two other Lebanese, Youssef Amin and Mohamed Atris, were convicted of being accessories to murder. In its 10 April 1997 ruling, the court issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian intelligence minister Hojjat al-Islam [[Ali Fallahian]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Melman |first=Yossi |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/911622.html |title=Israel fails to prevent Germany freeing Iranian |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2008-04-02 |access-date=2012-02-10 |archive-date=2009-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401091011/http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/911622.html }}</ref> after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with knowledge of Grand Ayatollah [[Ali Khamenei]] and President [[Ayatollah Rafsanjani]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,476369,00.html |title=The End of the Dispensable Iranian |last=Hakakian |first=Roya |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=4 October 2007 |access-date=31 January 2009}}</ref>
== Vienna assassination ==
On 13 July 1989, the then PDKI leader Abdurreman Qasımlo arrived in Vienna with his delegation to have talks with Iranian diplomats regarding the terms of reconciliation between the central government in Tehran and the Kurds. Those were not the only talks with Iran held in Vienna. After they entered the conference hall and the talks started, the Iranian "diplomats" took out automatic weapons and murdered all of the members of the Kurdish delegation, including Abdurrehman Qasımlo.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://yektauzunoglu.com/en/2018/03/12/hostage-4/|title=Hostage - 4|work=Yekta Uzunoglu|access-date=2018-07-04|language=en-US}}</ref>
== 2016 bomb attack ==
The year 2016 an Iranian agent had planted a bomb near the Castle which led to 6 KDP and KDPI members getting killed.
== 2018 missile attack on the Democrat Castle ==
On the 8th September 2018 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force launched seven Fateh 110 missiles at the Democrat Castle while a meeting was underway. The missiles got a direct hit on where the meeting was taking place at the Democrat Castle killing a total of 18 KDP and KDPI members. 50 KDP/KDPI members were injured, including KDP leaders Xalıd Ezizi and Mustefa Mewlûdi. A number of important members and commanders were killed, including Mehemed Hesenpûr, Nesrin Hedad and Rehman Piroti.
== 2022 Attack on the Rojhelat primary school and the September - October attacks ==
2022 the IRGC and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps send one Ballistic missile and several drones which attacked a school at Azadi Settlement and the missile nearly hit the school but instead got a hit beside the school which killed 17 teachers and parents and thereafter killing 1 child. After the attacks on the school Iranian helicopters was flying around the area and threw down triangle spikes which made it hard for cars to drive between the school, Azadi Settlement, Amiriya Settlement and Democrat Castle. Thereafter on September 28 the U.S that also had shot down a Qods - Mohajer-6 drone with a F-15 after it posed a threat to U.S. forces in the area. Some similar continued in the coming days, and casualties had increased to 18 deaths and 62 injuries on October 4. On November 14, Iranian airstrikes hit on the Democrat Castle operating in Iraqi Kurdistan continued, killing at least two people and injuring 10 other KDPI members. With these attacks 72 Kurdish and KDPI members getting injured and 37 Kurdish and KDPI members getting killed.
==PDKI congresses==
The PDKI has held fifteen congresses. These occurred in 1945, 1964, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-19 |title=About |url=https://pdki.org/english/about/ |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan |language=en-GB}}</ref>
During the 20th Congress of the [[Socialist International]], held at the [[headquarters of the United Nations]] in [[New York City]] (9–11 September 1996), the PDKI was given the status of ''observer member''. In 2005, the PDKI's membership was elevated to ''consultative'' status.
==Secretaries-General==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2017}}
*[[Qazi Muhammad|Qazi Mehemed]] (1945–1947)
*Ehmed Tewfiq (1947–1973)
*[[Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou|Abdurrehman Qasımlo]] (1973–1989)
*[[Sadegh Sharafkandi|Sadıq Şerefkendi]] (1989–1992)
*Abdullah Hesenzade (1992–2004)<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds|author=Michael M. Gunter|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7507-4|page=176}}</ref>
*[[Mustafa Hijri|Mustefa Hicri]] (2004–)
==Military wing==
[[File:PDKI_fighters.jpg|thumb|right|250px|PDKI separatist fighters(2013)]]
The military wing of the PDKI is named PDKI Pêşmerge.
==Reunity==
Both wings of PDKI and PDK reunited on August 21, 2022 and build again Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.
==New leading team==
The leading team until the joint Congress calls Executive Board. This board has 12 members leading by '''Mustefa Hicri'''.
The leading team abroad or Executive Board Abroad has 6 members who are: '''Köstan Gadani''', '''Azad Ezizi''', '''Mehemed Resûl Kerimi''', '''Aso Salıh''', '''Kawe Ebdeli''' and '''Rehim Mehemedzade'''.
==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs=<ref name="Chaliand1993">{{cite book|last=Ghassemlou|first=A.R.|editor=Gérard Chaliand|title=A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W78I4hK0JLQC&pg=PA106|year=1993|publisher=Zed Books|location=London|isbn=978-1-85649-194-5|pages=106–118|chapter=Kurdistan in Iran}}</ref><ref name="McDowall2004-240">{{cite book|last=McDowall|first=David|title=A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgDi9qFT41oC&pg=PA240|volume=3rd|year=2004|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-85043-416-0|pages=240–241|chapter=Tribe or ethnicity? The Mahabad Republic}}</ref><ref name="Tamadonfar2015">{{cite book|last=Tamadonfar|first=Mehran|title=Islamic Law and Governance in Contemporary Iran: Transcending Islam for Social, Economic, and Political Order|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lv-1CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA158|year=2015|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-1-4985-0757-8|page=158|chapter=Civil Society in Iranian Political Life}}</ref><ref name="McDowall2004-249">{{cite book|last=McDowall|first=David|title=A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgDi9qFT41oC&pg=PA240|volume=3rd|year=2004|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-85043-416-0|pages=249–254|chapter=Iran: Creating a national movement}}</ref>}}
==External links==
*[http://pdki.org/english/ The PDKI English language homepage]
{{Iranian exiled parties|state=collapsed}}
{{Kurdish nationalist organisations|state=collapsed}}
{{Iran–Iraq War|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran}}
[[Category:1945 establishments in Iran]]
[[Category:Banned political parties in Iran]]
[[Category:Banned Kurdish parties]]
[[Category:Banned socialist parties]]
[[Category:Consultative member parties of the Socialist International]]
[[Category:Federalist parties in Iran]]
[[Category:Kurdish nationalism in Iran]]
[[Category:Kurdish nationalist political parties]]
[[Category:Kurdish political parties in Iran]]
[[Category:Left-wing militant groups in Iran]]
[[Category:Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]
[[Category:Militant opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran]]
[[Category:Militant opposition to the Pahlavi dynasty]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Iran]]
[[Category:Parties of one-party systems]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1945]]
[[Category:Political parties of the Iranian revolution]]
[[Category:Progressive Alliance]]
[[Category:Secularism in Iran]]
[[Category:Social democratic parties in Iran]]
[[Category:Social democratic parties in Kurdistan]]