November 15, 2026: Iranians hate their religious dictatorship, which, since 1979, has impoverished Iranians and turned the country into a pariah state. Like the Soviet NKVD, the police state, and the Nazi Gestapo and SS divisions, Iran has its IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and its Quds Force for making trouble in other countries. Finally, there is the Basij militia, volunteer thugs who operate locally. Iran tells its impoverished people these expensive overseas activities are needed to combat American and Israeli threats. This justification is unpopular with most Iranians, who want their government to focus on real problems inside Iran rather than imaginary ones overseas. Leaders of the PMF in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon openly boast of their financial and other support from Iran. This makes most Iraqis and Lebanese uncomfortable. Hezbollah has long been recognized by most foreign nations as an Islamic terrorist organization. Syrians are dreading Iranian plans to create a Syrian Hezbollah.

In the past, Iranian politicians responded to nationwide protests by challenging senior clerics for criticizing other senior clerics. It has long been customary in Iran to associate criticism of the senior clergy with treason and heresy. The Iranian senior clergy have been hiding behind this and avoiding dealing with the very real problems most Iranians live with. The senior clergy and their IRGC protectors repeated their ultimate defense: that the senior Shia clergy are infallible in religious matters. IRGC leaders were particularly harsh in criticizing Iranian politicians and other senior clerics who describe the IRGC as a corrupt organization. Most agree that the IRGC controls too much of the economy. As of late 2026, the Iranian government fears that another popular uprising may overcome the IRGC and the few armed supporters the religious dictatorship still has. The U.S. admits that they are starving the Iranian government of money by blocking oil exports and disrupting any imports or exports via land or sea.

While Iran struggles to survive its own internal wars and rebellions along with American air strikes, the Kurds of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey realize there’s no downside to trying to make Kurdistan happen, while the upside is substantial. Once the American victory over Iran creates a democratic Persia, its Kurdish province could be granted independence. Kurdish efforts to establish a Kurdish state turned violent a century ago but were suppressed, often violently, in Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Currently, there are nearly 40 million Kurds in these three countries who have been unable to unite politically. This persistent lack of unity prevented Kurdish nationalism from becoming much more than a source of violence against and among Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and Iran. This led to the formation of the leftist, originally communist, PKK in the 1980s. Never very large, with at most 6,000 active members, the PKK was active mainly in Turkey and Iraq. PKK violence led to the destruction of peaceful Kurdish political parties in Turkey. The Turkish response to PKK violence was directed at all Turkish Kurds, who are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey, comprising about 15 percent of the population. The PKK and suppression activities contributed to the dispersal of the Turkish Kurds throughout Turkey. Many Kurds assimilated, at least partially, in Turkey. When Kurds moved to Western nations, the assimilation was more thorough. Expatriate Kurds retained their Kurdish identity, but after a few generations in the West, they were more like their non-Kurdish neighbors.

Kurds are a branch of the Iranian people who migrated to the Middle East over a thousand years ago. This was about the same time that the Turks were moving into what is now Turkey. The Turks were more numerous and assertive than the Kurds, which is why Anatolia became modern Turkey and not Kurdistan. Today the Kurds are still a distinct minority in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

Kurds who claim a Kurdish homeland are seeking an area 400,00-500,000 square kilometers currently spread across four countries. About 200,000 square kilometers are in eastern and southeastern Turkey, across 23 provinces. Next, Iranian Kurds occupy 125,000 square kilometers in western and northwestern Iran. In Iraq, a recognized Kurdish region covers 47,000 square kilometers across four northern provinces: Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Halabja. The smallest Kurdish population is in 17,000 square kilometers of northern and northeastern Syria.

It would require a masterful feat of multinational diplomacy to create a 400,000 square kilometers Kurdish state with a population of at least 40 million. Kurds are accustomed to democracy and negotiating their way through mutual problems. A peaceful, united, and prosperous Kurdistan would be an asset to the region. Someday, in some way, the regional powers will understand and accept the creation of Kurdistan.

James F Dunnigan