# Tehran Demands Return of 36 Exiled Kurdish Activists From Europe, Iraq

The Iranian regime’s request for the extradition of 36 Kurdish opposition figures and activists, submitted to the governments of Iraq and several European nations, including Germany, France, Belgium, and Sweden, is far from a novel tactic.

On July 21, the state-run Fars News Agency, citing the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, reported that, following legal cases and “private” complaints filed against leaders and members of Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, including PJAK, Komala, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDPI), and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), judicial rulings and Interpol Red Notices had been issued alongside formal extradition requests sent to their host countries.

While no independent verification that Interpol has issued Red Notices for the listed individuals has been released, the swift circulation of the list across Telegram channels affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) serves as a stark reminder to exiled Kurdish activists that threats and pressure remain inseparable from their political and human rights work. Notably, the list includes the name of Jila Mostajer, director of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a figure who holds no membership or position in any opposition party, but whose work centres exclusively on documenting and reporting human rights violations in Kurdistan. IranWire spoke with her regarding the development.

The extradition request for 36 Kurdish opposition activists, sent to the governments of Iraq and several European states, including Germany, France, Belgium, and Sweden, is part of a well-established pattern. Numerous Iranian dissidents living abroad, particularly ethnic minority activists, have long faced similar tactics. What stands out in this newly published list, however, is the inclusion of a woman who has spent years focused strictly on media work and human rights advocacy rather than party politics.

Speaking to IranWire, Jila Mostajer, director of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, emphasised that she has not received any formal notice or legal communication regarding pending cases or extradition requests, though she expressed no surprise at seeing her name on the list.

“Since the beginning of the Kurdish people’s resistance against the Iranian government, threats, assassinations, abductions, killings, executions, torture, and massacres have been a constant reality,” Mostajer told IranWire. “In Kurdish, we have expressions to describe the scale of bloodshed in Kurdistan, including the phrase ‘our history bleeds.’ Because of this, my entire concept of the Islamic Republic’s existence has been shaped by killings, threats, executions, and massacres, so this is nothing new for us.”

Mostajer noted that the majority of those named on the list published by state media are “survivors of the Islamic Republic’s crimes.”

When asked why her name appeared alongside party leaders and political figures, she explained: “Since I began my public work roughly 11 years ago, I have been continuously subjected to pressure and threats by the Iranian regime. I’ve had to relocate repeatedly, endure forced migration and exile, live in hiding, face assassination threats, and watch my family be repeatedly interrogated and forced to answer for my activism. They have been stripped of social rights, and each time, the government chooses a new method to silence me.”

According to the human rights defender, a similar list was compiled and submitted to Iraq’s Foreign Ministry and Judiciary following the Woman, Life, Freedom movement: “They asked the Iraqi government to extradite us to Iran under the security agreement between Iran, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region. Following those threats, we were forced to leave Iraqi Kurdistan and relocate to another country. The republication of such a list must be viewed within the broader framework of the Islamic Republic’s transnational repression targeting dissidents, human rights defenders, and journalists abroad.”

Mostajer believes the regime’s legal demands and public lists are calculated attempts to delegitimize the human rights documentation carried out by Hengaw, which serves as a major platform amplifying voices from Kurdistan.

“For years, the government has tried to criminalise our work, disrupt our connection with people on the ground, and break up networking efforts,” she said. “The Islamic Republic requires these manufactured precedents to justify its own state-sponsored terrorism.”

In recent years, particularly following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini in state custody at the hands of the morality police, media figures and activists have faced escalating intimidation aimed at silencing their coverage, ranging from online harassment to direct pressure exerted on family members and friends remaining in Iran. For Mostajer, however, these measures only reinforce her resolve.

“The fact that my work angers the Islamic Republic to the point of publishing such lists makes me more determined than ever to continue on this path,” the Hengaw director stated. “My job is to record and document the crimes of the Islamic Republic.”

She added that she draws strength from Kurdish women facing imprisonment and execution within Iran who remain steadfast in their principles: “They want to create costs and challenges for human rights activists to achieve their ultimate goal of silencing us. But my role models are Pakhshan Azizi, Wrishe Moradi, and Zeynab Jalalian.”

Concluding her interview, the human rights activist expressed hope that Interpol will abide by Article 3 of its Constitution - which strictly prohibits the agency from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character - and continue to reject extradition requests targeting political dissidents.