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

The period that followed was one of great hardship for the Kurdish people. Villages were destroyed, and thousands were displaced. The armed conflict continued for years, though the scale of the fighting diminished after the initial push. The government's victory came at a high cost, and the fatwa of 1979 left a deep and lasting scar on the relationship between the Iranian state and its Kurdish minority.