ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — People in Iran's Kurdish province of West Azerbaijan are observing three days of official mourning following the death of Kholamreza Hasani, the Friday prayer imam from Urmia.
Mohammad Mahdi Shahriari, governor of West Azerbaijan, announced three days official mourning across the province saying “his struggle will not ever be forgotten."
Hasani died on Monday at the age of 91.
He was famous for his role after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, mobilizing Azerbaijani Turks against Kurdish parties. He himself took up arms and fought against Kurdish parties.
Hasani even put his own son on revolutionary trial for joining a leftist party.
Hasani was a well-known hardliner in Iran, making speeches against reformists refusing to welcome Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s reformist president during 1997-2005.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran 2005 to 2013, gave Hasani the first Medal of Honor for his fight against Iran’s Kurdish parties after the 1979 revolution.
Several Kurdish parties have fought an off-and-on armed insurgency against the regime, seeking greater political, cultural, and minority rights in Iran.
