Persian Files ISSN 2975-0598 Volume 28 Issue 2
Author: Seyyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad
Executive Summary
This report aims to analyse the evolution of terrorism in Iran, highlighting its peak in the 1980s with over 17,000 fatalities and its subsequent decline because of improved security measures, citizen cooperation, and post-war reconstruction efforts.
Despite a resurgence in the 2000s and 2010s driven by groups like the Islamic State and Kurdish separatists, comprehensive military operations and security agreements in the 2020s significantly reduced attacks, though sporadic high-casualty incidents, such as the 2024 Kerman bombing, persisted.
The report underscores the enduring impact of terrorism on victims and calls for enhanced international advocacy to address their rights and support their recovery.
Terrorist attacks in Iran: An Overview
The concept of terrorism in Iran became deeply intertwined with daily life in Iranian society following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Various terrorist groups, particularly ethnic separatist factions and armed leftist movements, exploited the political instability caused by the monarchy’s collapse and the nascent government’s vulnerabilities, turning to violence and assassination as their primary tactics. Cities across Iran became battlegrounds for bombings, armed attacks, and targeted killings. Between late 1978 and 1983, the scale of terrorist activities and the number of casualties rose sharply.
The 1980s marked the height of terrorism in Iran’s contemporary history, with approximately 17,000 Iranian citizens losing their lives during this decade alone. However, from around 1984, the number of terrorist attacks started declining. The collaboration between citizens and security agencies, the significant disruption of terrorist groups’ organizational structures within the country, and the consolidation of the new political system’s authority caused this decrease.
From the late 1980s onward, particularly after the conclusion of the Iran-Iraq War, the decline in terrorist operations became more pronounced. By 1989, the number of attacks had nearly halved compared to the war’s final year. The 1990s and early 2000s marked a period of reduced terrorist activity in Iran, which led to a corresponding decline in the number of victims.
The end of the war and the country’s urgent need for development, particularly in the economic sphere, fostered a focus on reconstruction between 1989 and 1997. The government’s culture-oriented and de-escalation policies, which aimed to build trust in relations with Western countries and further reduced terrorist activities, characterised this period.
However, from the mid-2000s onwards, the situation shifted. The emergence of the Jundallah terrorist group in the early 2000s and its operations in provinces such as Sistan and Baluchestan and Kerman led to a gradual increase in attacks targeting military personnel and civilians. The group’s activities peaked around 2005, coinciding with an overall rise in terrorist operations and victim numbers. Despite this uptick, the total number of victims in the 2000s, approximately 800, remained lower than the 1990s figure of over 1,400 victims.
In the 2010s, the number of terror victims increased significantly because of various factors. These included wars in Syria and Iraq and invitations from Damascus and Baghdad for Iranian forces and advisors to combat extremist and multinational terrorist groups, the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists by the Israeli government, and the expansion of Kurdish separatist group activities in the northwest. Additionally, the Islamic State’s entry into terrorist operations within Iran and continued takfiri (apostate) group activities in the southeast contributed to a rise in casualties, particularly during the mid-2010s.
However, from the mid-2010s until the end of the decade, there was a relative decrease in the number of terrorism victims. One prominent reason for this decline was the defeat of the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq in 2016, which significantly curtailed its activities in both Iraq and Syria.
The significant decline in terrorist attacks against Iranian citizens continued until 2023. Extensive operations by the Iranian armed forces against the military camps and headquarters of Kurdish separatist and terrorist groups in Iraqi territory, along with the signing of a security agreement between Tehran and Baghdad to disarm these groups and distance them from border areas, contributed to the reduction of attacks in northwestern regions. These regions, where most victims were soldiers and border guards, saw a marked decrease in terrorist activity by groups such as PJAK and the Democratic Party of Kurdistan of Iran.
Nevertheless, the Islamic State suicide attack in Kerman on January 3rd, 2024, one of the largest and deadliest terrorist incidents in Iran since the revolution, resulted in the deaths of 97 Iranian citizens and several Afghan nationals. This event caused a significant spike in the number of terror victims compared to previous years.
Although 2024 experienced relative calm in the northwestern regions, the extremist group Jaish ul-Adl conducted terrorist activities that increased the number of victims in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Additionally, terrorist attacks by the Israeli government targeting Iranian military advisors and citizens in Syria and Lebanon further contributed to the rise in casualties.
An analysis of terrorist activities and victim numbers over the past four and a half decades reveals that approximately 70% of terrorist attacks in Iran occurred during the first decade after the revolution. However, as the political atmosphere gradually stabilized and security in cities improved, the number of terrorist victims decreased significantly.
The victims of terrorism in Iran form one of the largest communities of individuals affected by terrorism and human rights violations in the world. Notably, many of the groups responsible for terrorist attacks against Iranian citizens during the 1980s later left Iran and settled in various European countries. Despite their relocation, these groups did not abandon their violent activities. With support and safe havens provided by their host countries, they continued to plan attacks inside Iran, even as the overall number of terrorist victims declined significantly.
Conclusion
Terrorism has deprived victims of their fundamental right to life and subjected them to severe human rights violations. Beyond those directly killed in such attacks, survivors and their families also endure long-term psychological and financial hardships. Unfortunately, international laws and treaties have proven inadequate in addressing the rights of these victims or providing effective remedies. Political considerations often drown out the voices of terrorism victims worldwide, thus influencing the attention and support they receive.
To address this disparity, establishing a broad network of survivors and victims from countries heavily affected by terrorism, alongside active involvement from legal and human rights advocates, could enhance the effectiveness of existing laws and treaties. Such collaboration has the potential to amplify the voices of victims and create meaningful change in the global response to terrorism.
*In the picture: Funeral for the victims of the Shah Cheragh terrorist attack where 13 people, including women and children were killed (Credits: Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of SpecialEurasia.
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