The 1975 Algiers Agreement: A Deal That Redefined Borders and Betrayed the Kurds

On March 6, 1975, Iraq and Iran signed the Algiers Agreement, brokered by Algerian President Houari Boumédiène. The deal was presented as a diplomatic resolution but, in reality, it marked a historic betrayal of the Kurdish people.

The agreement aimed to demarcate the border between the two countries while also crushing the Kurdish uprising in Iraq. Under the terms of the deal, Iran withdrew its support for the Kurds, leading to the collapse of the Kurdish revolution and leaving the Kurdish population vulnerable to brutal attacks by the Iraqi army.

As a result, thousands of Kurds were forcibly displaced to Iran and Turkey, while the agreement itself became a bargaining chip in regional politics.

In 1980, Saddam Hussein unilaterally annulled the agreement, sparking the Iraq-Iran War. A decade later, in 1990, he reinstated it, this time as a strategic move to neutralize Iran ahead of his invasion of Kuwait.

Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani later condemned the agreement, calling it a betrayal of the Kurdish people. The deal left a deep scar in Kurdish memory, eroding trust in regional allies and serving as a stark reminder of how international politics have historically marginalized the Kurdish cause.

To this day, the 1975 Algiers Agreement remains a symbol of broken promises and geopolitical maneuvering at the expense of the Kurds.