On the Problem of the Victim/Perpetrator Dichotomy: The Massacre of Kurds (Iran, 1979)

By Mehran M. Mazinani

Volume 14, Issue 2, pages 289-301

Abstract

This article recontextualizes the massacre that took place in the Kurdistan region of Iran in 1979. Through examining interviews with and articles by some of the leading actors involved in the massacre and analysing various alignments between Tehran and Kurdistan, the article concludes that the massacre was not an ethnic conflict. Rather, it was a political issue exacerbated by matters such as the turbulent transition from the Pahlavi dynasty to the Islamic Republic and idiosyncrasies of the involved actors. Framing the massacre in a primordially black and white fashion – Sunni Kurds versus Shiite Persians – is not only historically inaccurate but also empirically problematic.

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