Beyond the Border: Kurdish Communities, Shared Histories and Divided Homelands Between Iraq and Iran

 Janifer Yasmin 


What does it mean to belong to a place when an international border separates your community from people who share your language, culture and history?

Across the mountainous landscapes between Iraq and Iran, Kurdish communities have lived with this question for generations. The mountains, valleys and villages of this region are connected through histories, family relationships, cultural traditions and trade. Yet, political boundaries have divided these landscapes into separate national territories.

For many Kurdish communities, the border is not simply a line on a map. It is part of everyday life, shaping relationships, movement, identity and the meaning of home.

A Border Shaped by History

The Iraq–Iran border has a long and complicated history. Its origins can be traced to centuries of political competition between the Ottoman and Persian empires.

The Treaty of Zuhab in 1639 and the Treaty of Erzurum in 1847 were important developments in the historical formation of the boundary. Later political agreements and territorial disputes further shaped the modern border.

However, political boundaries did not necessarily reflect the social and cultural geography of the people living in these regions.

Kurdish communities found themselves living across territories that eventually became part of different modern states. Although the border separated Iraq and Iran politically, cultural and family connections continued across it.



The Kurds: One People Across Different States

Kurdish communities are spread across several countries, including Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. They share important cultural and historical connections, although Kurdish communities are diverse in language, political experience, religion and regional identity.

In the borderlands between Iraq and Iran, Kurdish families have historically maintained relationships through marriage, trade, cultural practices and social networks.

The mountains of the Zagros range are more than geographical features. They have long provided routes for movement, livelihoods and connections between communities.

But the creation and strengthening of modern state borders introduced new restrictions and political divisions.

People who once travelled through familiar routes increasingly encountered national boundaries, security controls and different systems of administration.

When War Changed Everyday Life

The Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) deeply affected the communities living along the border.

The conflict brought military operations, destruction, displacement, and insecurity to many border areas. Villages were damaged, families were separated, and ordinary economic activities were disrupted.

For Kurdish communities, the experience of political conflict was also connected to wider struggles involving state authority, territorial control and political identity.

The legacy of the war demonstrates how decisions made by governments can transform the everyday lives of people living far from political centres.

For border communities, international conflict is not simply something that happens between two states. It can affect where people live, how they earn a living, whether they can visit relatives, and how they understand their relationship with their homeland.


Living Between Two Sides of a Border

Today, the Iraq–Iran border remains an important political and security boundary. However, it is also a space of social and economic interaction.

Cross-border trade, family connections and cultural relationships continue to be important in different parts of the region, although movement is shaped by border regulations, security conditions and political developments.

For some families, relatives may live on opposite sides of the international boundary. For others, cross-border movement is connected to employment, markets or maintaining social relationships.

The border therefore has two different meanings.

For the state, it represents territorial sovereignty, national security and political authority.

For local communities, it may represent restrictions, opportunities, memories, family connections and sometimes separation.

These different understandings reveal an important question: who has the authority to decide where a community belongs?


Beyond National Boundaries: The Meaning of Belonging

The experiences of Kurdish communities along the Iraq–Iran border remind us that cultural identity does not always fit neatly within national boundaries.

A person may identify with a local community, a wider Kurdish cultural identity, and the country in which they hold citizenship. These identities do not necessarily contradict one another.

The border may divide territories, but it cannot automatically erase shared memories, languages, traditions and relationships.

At the same time, it is important not to romanticise cross-border connections. Political conflict, discrimination, security restrictions, and economic inequalities can make everyday life difficult for people living in these regions.

Their experiences show that borders are not only geographical or political structures. They are also experienced through ordinary human relationships.


Conclusion: The People Behind the Border

The Iraq–Iran border is more than a territorial boundary separating two countries. It is a landscape shaped by historical agreements, political conflicts and the everyday experiences of communities living along it.

The story of Kurdish communities reminds us that borders are created through political processes, but their consequences are experienced by ordinary people.

Behind every international boundary are families, memories, livelihoods and identities that cannot always be contained within the limits of a national map.

Perhaps the most important question is not simply where the border lies, but how people continue to live, connect and understand belonging on both sides of it.

Because sometimes, a border divides a territory without dividing the history of its people.


References

1. Ateş, S. (2019). Treaty of Zohab, 1639: Foundational Myth or Foundational Document? 

2. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Boundaries: With the Ottoman Empire. Read here

3. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Boundaries: With Iraq. 

4. International Water Law Project. Treaty Concerning the State Frontier and Neighbourly Relationships between Iran and Iraq (1975). 

5. Hassaniyan, A. (2022). Crossborder Kurdish Solidarity: An Endangered Aspect of Kurdishness. 

6. European Union Agency for Asylum (2025). Kurds, Including Faili Kurds and Yarsan Kurds. 

7. Ahmadi, S. (2024). Refugees and Migrants in Iran: The Iran–Iraq War (1980–88) and the Intifada (1991). 

8. United States Department of State. The Implications of the Iran–Iraq Agreement (1975). 

9. United Nations Treaty Series. Iran–Iraq Frontier Agreement. 

10. Florida State University (1978). International Boundaries Study: Iran and Iraq. 

11. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Iraq: From the Afsharids to the End of the Qajars.

12. Zagros Mountains: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Zagros_Mountains?

13. Kurdish villages in Hawraman: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hawraman

14.  Traditional Kurdish village of Tawela: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tawela

15. Kurdish people and traditional clothing : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hawraman

16. Iraq–Iran border fortifications : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iranian_border_fortification_to_the_Kurdistan_Region_of_Iraq_in_June_2026.png

17. Iraq–Iran border map and locations : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Iran-Iraq_border

18. Kurdish regional maps : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maps_of_Kurdistan

19. Shatt al-Arab River : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Shatt_al-Arab

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