Abstract: Instabilities in Syrian Kurdish areas have regional implications. In Iran, having both Kurdish and Turkish minorities, this might lead to new social divides and instabilities. This was highlighted in recent weeks by clashes between Turkish and Kurdish supporters in the western Iranian provinces. In the meantime, Iran had stakes in the Turkish intervention, thus restrained its opposition to limited diplomatic statements. In parallel, Tehran is pursuing a less harsh policy towards its Kurdish insurgence while under US maximum pressure, and is conducting rounds of talks with these groups for the sake of its internal stability. These developments raise questions over the future direction of Tehran’s Kurdish policy and its regional implications.

The roundtable will touch upon these issues, focusing on questions like: what might be Iran’s shared interest with Turkey and Russia on the Kurdish issues in Syria? What will be the short-term implications for Iran of instabilities in Syrian Kurdistan? And how Iran might respond to that?

Speaker | Dr. Jafar Haghpanah is a visiting professor in Regional Studies at faculty of Low and Political Science in University of Tehran. He is also a member of board of directors in Iranian Regional Studies Association (IRSA) and head of Afghanistan Studies department in Iranian Political Science Association since 2017. Previously he was assistant professor and research deputy at the Research Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS) until 2010. Dr. Haghpanah has conducted field work studies among Kurdish populations in both Iranian and Turkish side.

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