Abduction of Sadegh Zibakalam in Kurdistan; Khalkhali in October 1979: He Has Ties with the Democrats

In October 1979, as unrest intensified in Iran's Kurdish regions, news of the kidnapping of Sadegh Zibakalam, the prime minister's representative at the time, in Mahabad was reported in the press. While press reports indicated that he had been abducted by members of the Democratic Party, Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali questioned the entire story a few days later, claiming that Zibakalam had ties to the group and that the abduction and his release required investigation.

According to Ambassador Arjan's report, quoted from the information base of the Islamic Revolution Documentation Center; On the 22nd of Mehr 1358, the information newspaper published the news of the kidnapping of Sadegh Zibakalam in Mahabad. According to this newspaper, Colonel Najafzadeh, the deputy operational commander of the army in Mahabad, announced that evening that the city was calm at that time, but at around 10:00 a.m., Ziba Kalam, who had come to the region as a representative of the prime minister to investigate the situation in Kurdistan, was abducted at the governorate of Mahabad by forces affiliated with the Democratic Party. According to him, until the publication of the news, there was no information about Zibakalam's whereabouts.

Colonel Najafzadeh, explaining how the incident happened, said that in the morning, the governor of Mahabad had gone to the barracks to participate in the funeral ceremony of the city police chief. In his absence, the forces of the Democratic Party went to the governor's office and took Zibakalam with them to an unknown place.

Zibakalam's presence in Mahabad was supposed to continue by holding a consultative meeting with a number of local trustees. These people were supposed to present their proposed solution to the crisis in the region in a meeting with the Prime Minister's representative. For this reason, Zibakalam stayed in the city to participate in this meeting; But before the meeting was held, the story of his kidnapping happened and the dialogue program with the local trustees was practically affected.

This report, in the first published account of the incident, emphasized on the kidnapping of the government representative in the governor's office and his unknown fate.

Freedom after two days and Zibakalam's account of the behavior of the kidnappers

Two days later, on 24 Mehr 1358, Information newspaper published the news of Zibakalam's freedom. According to the report of this newspaper, after his release, he stated that the behavior of the people who took him was "extremely good". Ziba Kalam also said that after being caught in their hands, he talked to the members of this group and came to the conclusion that their demands were reasonable in his opinion and that they were looking for a political solution to the Kurdistan issue.

According to the published version of his statements, the mentioned people emphasized that they neither want to divide Iran nor seek fratricide; Rather, they claim to fight for their rights. Thus, in his first press statement after his release, Zibakalam presented a picture of a conversation with the members of the group, which emphasized the possibility of a political solution to the conflict and paying attention to their declared demands.

However, these statements alone do not clarify the nature of Zibakalam's relationship with the forces of the Democratic Party before this incident or whether, in addition to his official mission, he had made other contacts with the members of this group or not. The report of the 24 Mehr Information, first of all, reflects Zibakalam's account of the behavior of the kidnappers and his perception of their political positions after liberation.

Ayatollah Khalkhali's claim: Zibakalam was related to the democrats

On 26 Mehr 1358, Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali presented a different version of the story of Zibakalam in a statement published by the daily newspaper. While referring to the rumors about the Democratic Party's request for the release of the hostages through his mediation, he said that if he is sure that handing himself over to this group will lead to the release of the hostages, he is willing to do such a thing.

Khalkhali also stated that he would accept the invitation to participate in a television debate, provided that he would be able to explain the reasons for the execution of a number of officials of the Pahlavi government, including Amir Abbas Hoyda, Nematullah Nasiri, Reza Naji, Mehdi Rahimi and Mehdi Rabiei, as well as the functioning of the Kurdistan courts.

However, the most important part of his statement was related to Zibakalam's presence in Kurdistan regions and his alleged connection with the Democratic Party. Khalkhali said that during his first trip to Kurdistan, when he was in Paveh, Zibakalam came to him and said that he had been in Kurdistan for about two to three months and that he knew about the situation in the region. According to Khalkhali's account, Zibakalam had asked him to express his views and content about the situation in Kurdistan during that meeting.

Khalkhali added that after that, he saw Zibakalam again in Saqqez and finally met him in Mahabad. According to him, during his stay in Mahabad, a number of security guards approached him and claimed that Zibakalam is related to members of the Democratic Party, travels among them and cooperates with them.

Khalkhali also claimed that the Revolutionary Guards told him that Zibaklam stated that they will not stop their activities until they cut off the heads of the Revolutionary Guards in Kurdistan. This claim, if true, could present a different picture of the role and positions of Zibakalam in the region; However, in the published report of Khalkhali's statement, there is no independent document to prove this attribution or its precise details, and this matter must be examined in the context of the claim made by him.

Summoned to the court and ordered to leave Mahabad

According to Khalkhali, after receiving the Pasdaran report, he called Zibakalam to the court and asked him about the reason for communicating with members of the Democratic Party. Khalkhali claimed that Zibakalam denied this relationship, but the Guardsmen insisted on their claims in his presence and accused him of widespread activity against the Revolutionary Guards.

Khalkhali further stated that he considered the testimony of the guards to be sufficient to issue a verdict and accordingly warned Zibakallam that he has no right to stay in Mahabad and that he should leave the area as soon as possible. Otherwise, he will be arrested. He emphasized that it did not matter to him whether Zibakalam was the prime minister's representative or not, because in his opinion, this title did not prevent the investigation of the allegations.

This part of Khalkhali's statement shows that the dispute over Zibakalam's presence in Kurdistan was not limited to the incident of his abduction, but was also related to different perceptions about the scope of the mission of the government representatives, the way they contacted armed opposition groups, and the level of trust in the reports of the forces stationed in the region. Of course, the press report alone does not clarify whether these allegations were examined in another judicial authority or what independent evidence was available to confirm or deny them.

Khalkhali doubts about the story of the kidnapping

In the final part of his statement, Khalkhali severely questioned the published narrative about Zibakalam's abduction. He claimed that there is no reason or evidence to prove his abduction and that the claim that members of the Democratic Party took him from the governor's office and released him after two days of negotiations is a "pure lie".

Referring to what he himself described about the kidnapping of security guards and ordinary people in Kurdistan and the handing over of their bodies, he asked how Zibakalam could be kidnapped from the governor's office and released after two days of negotiations. Based on these questions, Khalkhali suggested that the story of Zibakalam's abduction and his meeting with the leaders of the Democratic Party was a kind of conspiracy and pointed to his possible activity in connection with the leftist forces in the region.

In this way, in the space of four days, two different narratives about the same event were published in the press: first, the report on 22 Mehr, which quoted the deputy operational commander of the army in Mahabad, informed about the abduction of Zibaklam by the democratic forces; Second, the statements of 26 Mehr Khalkhali, who, while accusing Zibakalam of his connection and cooperation with this group, denied the fact that he was kidnapped. Between these two reports, Zibakalam's own account of the freedom and appropriate behavior of the kidnappers was published.

Information newspaper, Mehr 22, 1358, p. 2.

Information newspaper, 24 Mehr 1358, p. 2.

Information newspaper, 26 Mehr 1358, p. 2.