Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou

Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou was the leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and a prominent advocate for Kurdish autonomy within Iran. An economist educated in Paris and Prague, he led the PDKI from 1973 until his assassination. In the August 1979 election for the Assembly of Experts for the Constitution, he won over 80% of the vote in West Azerbaijan Province, but Ruhollah Khomeini personally ordered his credentials rejected. The Islamic Republic subsequently banned the PDKI and launched a military campaign against Kurdish regions. Ghassemlou sought negotiations with Tehran in the late 1980s, but was assassinated on 13 July 1989 in Vienna by Iranian intelligence agents during what he believed were peace talks. His successor, Sadegh Sharafkandi, was also assassinated three years later in the Mykonos restaurant attack in Berlin.