Reflecting on seven decades of the Iranian Kurdish movement, this book offers a comprehensive and critical analysis of the politicisation of national sentiments within Iran, and the connections the movement made and developed with Kurdish groups in Iraq. Looking at Kurdish-state relations through events taking place across remote, rural and urban areas in Kurdistan, Allan Hassaniyan analyses nationalist as well as non-nationalist aspects of Kurdish politics and history, reading the evolution of Kurdish nationalism through analysing crossborder Kurdish interaction. Paying particular attention to movement mobilisation and different aspects of the collective actions and insurgency deployed by actors, civil society organisations and the political parties of Iranian Kurds during different phases of the movement, Hassaniyan demonstrates how the ethnonationalist movement of the Iranian Kurds was a product of a discriminatory policy pursued by changing Iranian regimes toward non-Persian and non-Shiite communities in the country, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century.

‘An excellent contribution to the studies on the Kurds and their troubled history. In this impressive work Hassaniyan meticulously narrates the socio-political history of the Kurdish national movement with close and detailed analyses of primary sources. Well-grounded with theories the author provides an insider's perspective with numerous accounts of leaders in the movement.'

Metin Atmaca - University of Ankara

‘There are few scholarly books in English that focus on the contemporary Kurdish politics in Iran. Relying on a variety of primary and secondary sources, Hassaniyan has written a superb and much-needed book on the genesis and development of Kurdish politics in Iran from 1947 to 2017. He delves deeply into the causes of the politicization of Kurdish sentiments in Iran and the impact of the cross border interactions between Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish political parties on the evolving nature of Iran's Kurdish movement. The book's balanced treatment of this complex and multidimensional issue allows the reader to smoothly peer into the kaleidoscope of the Kurdish political movement in Iran.'

Nader Entessar - University of South Alabama

‘Hassaniyan brilliantly brings together insights from several bodies of literature to illustrate the intricate and intertwined nature of Kurdishness in Iran. It is a must-read for anyone with interest in evolving Kurdish nationalism throughout the Middle East and beyond.'

Mehmet Gurses - Florida Atlantic University