In Support of the Call for a General Strike in Kurdistan

We stand at a moment when history once again demands a position from us, not spectatorship.

The current nationwide uprising in Iran is the logical and inevitable continuation of decades of structural oppression, systematic denial of the rights of ethnic minorities, suppression of fundamental freedoms, and the trampling of human dignity by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This uprising is not a temporary protest; it is a declaration of the end of a repressive regime that has lost its legitimacy both domestically and internationally.

The coalition “Broad Solidarity for Freedom and Equality,” in alignment with the rightful demands of the people, supports the call by the “Dialogue Center for Cooperation” and the call for a general strike in Kurdistan on Thursday, January 8, 2026. We regard it as a necessary, legitimate, and historic step on the path of civil resistance and the nationwide struggle against the ruling despotism.

Over the past 47 years, Kurdistan has not been a peripheral arena of Iran’s transformations but the beating heart of resistance against the Iran regime. From the very first days of this regime’s establishment, Kurdistan, at a heavy yet conscious cost, has stood against policies of denial, militarization, massacre, assassination, and discrimination. The Mahsa movement, “Woman, Life, Freedom,” which emerged from within this very history of resistance, transformed power equations at the national and global levels and demonstrated that freedom in Iran is impossible without freedom for Kurdistan and other oppressed and marginalized nations.

The bloody suppression of protests in Kermanshah, Ilam, Lorestan, and especially the crime committed in Malekshahi is a continuation of the same naked policy of state violence to which the Islamic Republic of Iran resorts for its survival. Arrests, street repression, and the intimidation of people are not signs of strength, but an explicit admission of the regime’s fear and crisis.

The general strike in Kurdistan is a civil, collective, and conscious response to these crimes, a response that simultaneously carries a message of solidarity with nationwide protests in Iran and a decisive “no” to the continuation of religious dictatorship. This strike is not merely an act of protest, but a practical declaration of the right to self-determination, national equality, political freedoms, and human dignity.

We, in the coalition Broad Solidarity for Freedom and Equality, call on all political parties, freedom-seeking currents, civil society organizations, professional associations, independent activists, and awakened consciences in Iran and in the diaspora to set aside narrow considerations and exhausting divisions, stand with the people of Kurdistan, and support this call for a general strike. The present moment is a moment for unity of voice, not fragmentation; a moment for decision, not suspension.

We believe that the path to Iran’s liberation lies in the voluntary solidarity of its nationalities (ethnic regions,) the recognition of ethnic and cultural diversity, and the establishment of an order based on freedom, equality, and social justice. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal obstacle to this horizon, and moving beyond it is a necessary condition for building a humane and free future for all the peoples of Iran.

We stand with the resilient people of Kurdistan.

We stand with all protesters across Iran.

And with one voice we declare:

Repression will not end except with the end of this regime.

Long live the solidarity of nationalities.
Long live freedom and equality.
Down with the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Broad Solidarity for Freedom and Equality in Iran

January 7, 2026