The Kurdistan Free Life Party, or PJAK (Kurdish: “Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistanê”), is a Kurdish militant group fighting the Iranian regime. It has waged an intermittent armed struggle against the Iranian Government since 2004, seeking self-determination through some degree of autonomy for Kurds in Iran. Today, alongside other militant Iranian Kurdish organizations, PJAK is deeply involved in the emergent revolution against the Iranian regime. A smaller Kurdish group, the PAK (Kurdistan Freedom Party), has achieved global headlines in recent days because of its military actions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Kermanshah province. PJAK, however, is generally seen as the largest and best organized of the Iranian Kurdish organizations.
In order to better understand PJAK’s aims and activities, I interviewed Siamand Moeini, a member of PJAK’s leadership council, on January 12, 2026.
Q: What is PJAK’s take on the current situation?
A: In response to the policies of the Islamic Republic, which have plunged the country’s social, economic, and political life into a deep crisis, a new wave of popular uprisings has begun across Iran. For nearly half a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has sought to maintain its rule through systematic repression, mass killings, censorship, social engineering, and the deliberate impoverishment of society. All these forms of repression have aimed at weakening and fragmenting the collective power of the Iranian people.
Through the deliberate and structural imposition of multiple crises, the regime has entrenched its dominance over Iranian society and prolonged its grip on power.
Through the deliberate and structural imposition of multiple crises, the regime has entrenched its dominance over Iranian society and prolonged its grip on power. Extreme centralization, the repression and marginalization of nations and ethnic groups, systematic pressure on diverse religions and beliefs, the denial of women’s rights, continuous attacks and systematic humiliation directed at women and youth and their exclusion from public and social life, large-scale destruction of the natural environment, and reckless environmental interventions pushing the country toward ecological catastrophe—all of this has been accompanied by the systematic violation of fundamental human and democratic values.
These descriptions amount to only a brief description of the Islamic Republic of Iran: a mafia-like regime with no capacity whatsoever for self-reform, internal transformation, or genuine change.
Q: What are the Kurdish demands?
A: As PJAK, whose core philosophy is grounded in the principles of “Woman, Life, Freedom,” unity in diversity, and multicultural coexistence, we declare our full support for all democratic efforts against dictatorship.
On December 31, 2025, PJAK issued a statement outlining its position on these developments in four key points and clearly presented its views on the current situation to the public.
In general, the Kurdish people have long aspired to freedom, democratic rights, and a dignified life. For more than a century, they have engaged in an unparalleled struggle of resistance and have paid an extraordinarily high price in sacrifices.
The Lausanne framework, initiated by Britain and France, divided Kurdistan and became one of the root causes of immense suffering, mass killings, destruction, and forced assimilation policies imposed on the peoples of the region, particularly the Kurdish nation. These tragedies were the direct result of inhumane and misguided policies pursued by external powers that imposed themselves on the region.
In this historic moment, the Kurdish people are no longer willing to live without freedom and democracy.
Today, global politics presents an opportunity to support freedom-seeking Kurds and to begin correcting the injustices of the past century. Like all other peoples, Kurds demand freedom, democracy, and the realization of their legitimate rights. In this historic moment, the Kurdish people are no longer willing to live without freedom and democracy.
The Jewish people understand the Kurdish condition particularly well, having themselves historically endured assimilation, persecution, massacres, and displacement. For this reason, Jewish communities may find it easier to grasp the current Kurdish situation, since as many of the calamities facing the Kurds today have also been experienced by Jews throughout history.
Overall, the Kurdish people demand freedom and security and seek the ability to live with dignity on their own land.
Q: What is happening on the ground in Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan)?
A: As we previously discussed, the Kurds in Rojhelat demand freedom and democracy. While these concepts can be defined and interpreted through different paradigms and perspectives, the fundamental demand of the Kurdish people is clear: to exercise self-governance, to determine their own destiny, and to achieve autonomy in decisions concerning their political, economic, and social life, free from interference by a central government that approaches the Kurdish question through a chauvinistic lens.
The most realistic and practical proposal for the present historical moment is the establishment of a democratic system of self-administration. Within such a framework, every ethnic group and social component would have the right to manage its own affairs and safeguard its rights.
Kurds in Rojhelat reject a centralized state model. Any system that emerges after the fall of the Islamic Republic must be decentralized, with the rights of peoples and communities guaranteed through democratic consensus. The Kurdish people reject centrally engineered governance structures and possess both the capacity and the strength to administer to their own society. Moreover, they can become a vanguard force and a viable model for a region that is entering a chaotic and unstable phase.
Kurds constitute a capable and influential force in the Middle East and have consistently played a significant role throughout the region’s history.
Q: What would they ask the West to do?
A: The West is not a monolithic entity; nevertheless, its policies are largely shaped by its own interests. As previously stated, a substantial share of the region’s tragedies over the past century has resulted from the flawed policies of Britain and France. If Western powers intend to approach Kurdistan today with the same mindset, they would be better off abandoning such an approach altogether.
If the West and particularly Israel seek a stable Middle East, such stability will be impossible without addressing the Kurdish question.
However, if the West and particularly Israel seek a stable Middle East, such stability will be impossible without addressing the Kurdish question. The Israeli lobby can play a powerful and constructive role in supporting Kurdish rights and, from a strategic standpoint, contribute meaningfully to a broader Middle Eastern transformation. In doing so, all actors could advance their political and economic interests within a rational and sustainable framework.
The West must reassess its policies and place genuine emphasis on human values and human rights, rather than designing strategies and projects driven solely by short-term economic considerations. Otherwise, the region will never achieve lasting stability, and cycles of authoritarianism and anti-democratic rule will continue to reproduce themselves.
Q: Is there a chance the regime may be in real danger?
A: The Islamic Republic of Iran has lost legitimacy across all dimensions—economic, political, social, and even ideological—including among its own former supporters. Its strategy of exporting political Islam, backing proxy militias, and engaging in proxy warfare has transformed the regime into a serious threat not only to the peoples of Iran but to the entire region.
The negative, interest-driven role of European states and even the United States has contributed significantly to the regime’s longevity. One clear example is the Obama-era release of hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, which were subsequently redirected toward strengthening proxy forces, developing ballistic and even hypersonic missile capabilities, and instilling fear in neighboring countries.
It is difficult for people who have reached the point of making sacrifices to accept such dictatorships again.
On numerous occasions, European states have directly and indirectly supported the expansion of the economic mafia and cartel structures of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, providing unprecedented technical and economic assistance to Iran’s theocratic and dictatorial rulers.
Today, the time has come for all forces to intensify efforts to dismantle this dictatorship and to work toward building a democratic society, one in which the peoples of Iran can genuinely live with dignity and shape the political realities of the future.
On this basis, the Iranian people will no longer accept this injustice and will stand against it at any cost. We see people fighting this dictatorial regime every day by sacrificing their lives. It is difficult for people who have reached the point of making sacrifices to accept such dictatorships again, and they will obviously make these sacrifices for freedom to achieve a free and democratic society. Therefore, I must say openly that supporting another form of dictatorship and centralism for Iran is the worst option that will lead to previous problems and will not solve the issues of the Iranian people.
