Acknowledgements -- 1. The Kurds in Iran : an overview -- Introduction -- The Kurds of Iran -- 2. A history -- Post-First World War -- The Mahabad Republic -- Mossadegh -- The revolution -- The Iran-Iraq War -- 3. Iranian state policy and the Kurds : politics and human rights -- Overview of state policy -- History of the Iranian state's treatment of Kurds -- The power structure of the Islamic Republic -- Human rights and minorities -- Kurdish women -- The current human rights situation in Kurdistan -- 4. Kurdish cross-border cooperation -- A complex situation -- History of conflict and cooperation -- The current state of nascent accord -- 5. Iranian Kurds and regional geo-politics -- The Kurdish issue -- Iran and Turkey -- 6. Iran's relations with the West -- The Iranian outlook -- Implications of the election of Ahmadinejad -- Iran and the United States -- Iran and the European Union -- Iran and the United Nations -- Islamic values and human rights. 7. Possibilities for the future -- Renaissance of political and social thought -- The Iranian Kurdish national movement -- Government response and responsibility -- Implications of changes in regional gepolitics -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Index.