Iran

Background

A number of armed non-State actors (NSAs) have formed in opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran, some of them with an ethnic background. Groups such as the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and all three factions of the Komala Party-Iranian Kurdistan have suspended their armed operations. The Party for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) continues to launch sporadic guerrilla attacks against Iran, while the Iranian army frequently shells towards their suspected strongholds in northern Iraq.

Several provinces of west and southwest Iran, including Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Khuzestan, Kermanshah and Ilam, are affected by anti-personnel (AP) mines and explosive remnants of war laid primarily during the 1980-1988 conflict with Iraq. Some of the above-mentioned NSAs have also declared to Geneva Call possessing stocks of AP mines or having used them for protecting their camps.

Activities

Geneva Call has been engaging Iranian NSAs in a ban on AP mines since 2001. The following four NSAs signed the Deed of Commitment banning AP mines:

• the PDKI, 2007.
• the Komalah-The Kurdistan Organization of the Communist Party of Iran, 2009.
• the Komala Party of Kurdistan, 2009.
• the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, 2009.
  
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Geneva Call is also facilitating mine action in the parts of Iraqi Kurdistan where the PDKI operates. In September 2008, Geneva Call, with technical assistance from , facilitated the destruction of a PDKI stockpile of 392 AP mines. The organization is also dialoguing with Deed of Commitment signatories on broader international humanitarian law and gender issues.

For further information

PDKI, 2008, , 26 September.

International Herald Tribune, 2008, , 2 September.

Geneva Call, 2008, , Press Release, 1 September.

Armin Köhli, 2008, , Journal of Mine Action, No. 11.2.

Geneva Call, 2007, , Press Release, 5 December.