As protests sparked by the death of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini rage in Iran, members of the country’s exiled Kurdish political opposition say they’re not getting a fair hearing in Washington. Khalid Azizi, spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), is calling on the US government to resume contact with his and other Iranian political parties.  

“Unfortunately, we don't have any contact with them,” Azizi told Al-Monitor at a recent event hosted by the Washington Kurdish Institute. “They should have some level of relationship with the Iranian political parties.” 

KDPI is one of several Iranian opposition groups based in northern Iraq that is seeking greater autonomy for Iran’s Kurds, who comprise an estimated 10% of the Iranian population. Tehran has accused KDPI and other armed “separatist” groups of organizing the protests, now in their seventh week.   

In apparent retaliation, KDPI’s headquarters in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq came under attack in late September from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian missile and drone strikes killed eight people, including an American citizen who was a retired peshmerga fighter.