The Kurds of Iran

Mahabad is a town with a population of 280,000 people, majority of them of Kurdish background (Al-Jazeera)
Mahabad is a town with a population of 280,000 people, majority of them of Kurdish background (Al-Jazeera)

Angry over the death of a chambermaid threatened with rape, ethnic Kurds in Mahabad burned the hotel where she had worked, witnesses and reports said.

Source: Riot Erupts in Iran’s Kurdish Capital Over Woman’s Death – NYTimes.com

It’s not unusual for the Kurds living under Iranian rule to riot in protest of one abuse or another. They are indeed living under a de facto occupation. This is the only reasonable impression that one gets when considering how Kurdish-majority provinces are administered. Whether the current riots in Mahabad will mushroom into a larger movement remains as an open question for now.