Amir Kerimi spoke with Rebaz Majeed, a member of the editorial board of The Amargi, in the Zagros Mountains, where he discussed the protests in Iran, the future of Kurdish politics, and regional power balances.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has already collapsed, Kerimi said, stressing that while the regime still controls the state apparatus, it has lost all social legitimacy. He compared the Islamic Republic to “a person who is brain-dead but whose heart is still beating,” arguing that the regime is surviving only through its machinery of repression.
A rigid twentieth-century system is collapsing
Amir Kerimi said the crisis in Iran is linked to the disintegration of the classic nation-state model across the Middle East. He described that model as one built on “one color, one authority, one language, and one flag,” and said Kurds have been systematically excluded within it.
Kerimi said, “Kurds were pushed outside the law, politics, and everything else. They were expected either to assimilate or to disappear.”
Kerimi said the weakening of centralized state structures could create an opening for the Kurds, but only if it leads to democratic change. He said: “As the nation-state structure is breaking down, this is undoubtedly an opportunity for the Kurds. But if change does not move toward democracy, it will be a danger for them.”
Iran is becoming a closed North Korea
Kerimi said the communications shutdowns imposed during the protests in Iran were a deliberate strategy. He said, “The Islamic Republic cut off all means of communication to survive. Why? So, it could massacre people without restraint.”
He warned that a large-scale massacre may have taken place and added: “Today, the Islamic Republic is like a closed North Korea, and no one knows what is happening inside.”
Kerimi also said the regime has exhausted the sources of legitimacy it once relied on, such as religion and nationalism, but he spoke cautiously about what may follow.
Kerimi said: “We have the experience of 1979. The Shah left and everyone was happy, but what followed was a far more dangerous dictatorship. There is no guarantee that this time it will be different.”
Kurdish unity
Amir Kerimi said the joint political framework issued by Kurdish parties in Iran was the result of necessity.
He said, “This time a different attempt was made. We created a space for dialogue and a basis for convergence.”
Kerimi said that hegemonic competition in Kurdish politics must be abandoned and added: “No force can impose itself on the others. The Kurds must become a power capable of putting their own issues on the agenda and resolving them.”
We are a political organizing force
Kerimi said PJAK is active across different Kurdish regions inside Iran. He rejected defining PJAK solely as an armed structure.
Kerimi said, “We see ourselves more as a political organizing force than as an armed force. Armed struggle is not the key to a solution for us; it is a means of self-protection.”
He underlined the principle of “legitimate self-defense,” saying that societies have the right to defend themselves.
A third way
Amir Kerimi said there are contacts with the United States and other international actors, but he rejected any solution based on external intervention.
He said, “We are against the dictatorial state. But we do not believe that an outside power will come and save us.”
The Pahlavi risk
Kerimi said there is no open cooperation with Israel, but his greatest concern is the construction of a new form of authoritarianism through Reza Pahlavi. He said, “The people do not want a new dictatorship.”
State plus democracy
Kerimi said PJAK does not seek separation, but rather “a democratic and decentralized Iran.” Kerimi also said: “We have a program we call the Democratic Republic of Iran. There will be a state, but one that goes beyond the nation-state and is based on the self-administration of peoples.”
Kerimi said the current crisis in Iran is not only a regime crisis, but also the breakdown of a century-old, centralized nation-state model. He warned, however, that the greatest risk is that this process could result in a new form of authoritarianism.
He said, “There are no guarantees,” and added that any real guarantee can come only through democracy, Kurdish unity, and a form of politics rooted in society.