Khomeini's 1979 Fatwa: A Turning Point in the Conflict Between Iran and Its Kurdish Minority

In response to this crisis, Ayatollah Khomeini issued his now-infamous fatwa on August 19, 1979. He declared a "jihad" (holy war) against the "counter-revolutionaries" and "enemies of Islam" in Kurdistan. This was a powerful and incendiary call to action, legitimizing the use of force and framing the conflict not as a political or ethnic dispute, but as a religious struggle. It mobilized a wide range of pro-government forces, including the newly formed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij volunteer militias, to suppress the Kurdish uprising.