Presidential Elections In Iran Mean Nothing for Iran's Ethnic Minorities

By Umud Duzgun

 June 14, 2013 - Elections are the expression of the free will of the people in a free world but not in Iran. Article 110 of the Iranian constitution allows the Supreme Leader for interfering in all affairs of the country including the elections through the Guardian Council appointed by him. The Guardian Council acts as a “candidate-screener” deciding on whose candidacy is allowed and it can also determine who should come up as a winner from the ballot box.  However, in addition to gender and religious discrimination in the Iranian presidential election, there is also a hidden discrimination that is almost unknown for Western press and politicians.That is ethnic politics in Iran.

The ethnic minorities participation in the government, in the distribution of power in Iran is very limited. The government, in its essence, is a domination of the Persian minority over multi-ethnic Iran. Although the government officials claim that it does not discriminate against other ethnicities in the government, the evidence shows otherwise. There is an unwritten law preventing none-Persian ethnic figures such as Azeri Turks, Ahvazi Arabs, Kurds, Baloch and others from running for the president, holding the other top two government positions - speaker of the Parliament and the Chief Justice. All these position holders must be an ethnic Persian. During the past 38 years all top leadership of the country, including two Supreme Leaders and seven Presidents of Iran, have been ethnic Persians. It comes as a no surprise that all current presidential nominees are also Persian.

Of course, certain individuals can always find their way into the ruling elite and some Azeris have done so. Most of them are completely assimilated and recognize themselves as ethnic Persians.

Effect of Ethnic Discrimination on Electoral Politics

Moreover, there are appointed Persian nationals mostly from Tehran and Isfahan as heads of local administrative offices to the regions with dominant non-Persian population to ensure the direct control of the Persian-led Iranian government over those regions. Ironically, Persian opposition inside and in exile alike, support this racist policy of the current Iranian regime due to their own nationalist agenda. 

Both Persian factions in Tehran are trying to silence the ethnic minorities. In addition to the same political repression that applies to all opponents of the regime, non-Persian nationalities will resort to more violence to less-prosperous peoples, such as the Kurds,  Arabs and Blochies. But in order to silence the South Azeri Turks with a majority population that is present in all layers of society, they use deceptive soft methods more than violent repressions, for example, widely spread the biggest lies that the Azeri Turks are holding Iran's economy and political power. The plundering of funds and resources of non-Persian regions by the rulers of the Persian minority regime is a tenthly topics. Regarding the holding political power, there are invented political misconceptions, like the one which claims the Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is an ethnic Azeri. 

The fact-check about Ali Khamenei's ethnic background, clearly described in Khamenei’s own auto-biography, shows otherwise. Based on his family tree, Ali Khamenei’s ancestors trace back to Shia Imam Ali in Najaf city. His great grandfather Seyyed Mohammad from Tafresh City in central Iran moved to the South Azerbaijani village of Khamene and settled there for a few years as an Islamic missionary or "Mobalegh-Saadat'. It was during that period which Seyyed Hossein (the grand father of Ali Khamenei) was born in Khamene Village and raised in Najaf city. They called him Khamenei, which meant that he was from Khamene. Ali Khmenei's father Syyed Javad was born in Najaf city but raised in Persian city of Mashhad. His mother was also a Persian from Mashhad. His real name is Seyyed Ali Hosseini (Khamenei) born and raised in Persian family in Mashhad and married to Persian wife. He is an ethnic Persian, fluent in Arabic and he also speaks some Azeri Turkish.

Ali Khamenei himself has never claimed to be an Azeri Turk. The reason for repeating this propaganda line by the regime's media and the Persian opposition is to cover up the regime’s racist policy of exclusion of the ethnic minorities from the government. Khamenei also happens to serve as a perfect scapegoat for Iran’s ultra-nationalist Persian groups to place the blame for the backwardness of the regime on an alleged non-Persian. In this particular case, the record indicate that Ali Khamenei is an extreme Persian nationalist. He is collecting hundreds of billions of taxes from none Persian nationals such as Azeri Turks, Balochies, Kurds and others and using those money for the promotion of Persian language in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, while simultaneously banning the using of native languages of Azeri Turks and Arbs and other none Persians. 

Of course, certain individuals can always find their way into the ruling elite and some Azeris have done so. Most of them are completely assimilated and recognize themselves as ethnic Persians.

Similar to the Saddam era Iraq and current minority regime in Syria, the ethnic Persian minority in Iran are holding power and marginalizing itself due to the policies aimed at ignoring other ethnicities living in Iran, including the Azeri Turks of over 40%, Kurds 7%, Arabs 6%, Lurs 5%, Baloch 3%, Gilak-Mazandarani 4%, Turkmen 3%, Qashqai 2% and others in favor of the 30% of Iran’s populations - ethnic Persians.

As a result of the deeply rooted ethnic discrimination in the Iranian politics, ethnic minorities believe that these presidential elections are as unimportant as the previous ones, when Persian politicians are fighting for power. The new president means the continuation of political and cultural oppression and destruction of the regions with non-Persian population.

The fall of the mono-ethnic regimes in multi-ethnic countries of the Middle East and the growing independence movements of the oppressed ethnic minorities in Iran threatens the territorial integrity of Iran in its current format. Since the last presidential elections, ethnic issues have become more sensitive in the debates between the reformist and conservative candidates They cautiously promise to meet some demands of the ethnic minorities. However they are notorious for not keeping their promise and therefore enjoy no trust among the non-Persian citizenry of Iran.

In the aftermath of the disputed elections of 2009, the ethnic minorities OF Iran disassociated themselves from the power struggle between the conservative Persian and the so-called reformist Persian in Tehran. The people of South Azerbaijan and other none-Persian ethnic minorities never really joined the failed "Green Revolution" which they regarded as a purely Persian movement. And they had a simple reason for that: The reformist faction attempting the Green Revolution followed the same racist policy of oppression towards ethnic Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Baloch and others.

That does not mean that the ethnic minorities in Iran agreed to reduce their role to being the passive observers of the political process in Iran. The ethnic minorities of Iran raised their voice through their own separate national liberation movements against the Iranian regime following their own agenda. The minorities have been constantly demanding improvement of their social, political and cultural rights, the advance in the official usage of their native languages, protection of the local environment, welfare and economy in the regions they live in. They do not fight for power sharing in Tehran. Instead, they are fighting to free themselves from the colonial Iran by holding a referendum for independence and the dissolution of the Iran.

Conclusion

The absence of non-Persian ethnic groups in senior institutions, including in the presidency, is by no mean coincidental. And the presidential election underway in Iran is another jugglery of Persian minority regime to gain legitimacy by fooling the international community. However, the recent developments in the Middle East, the nuclear issue and crippling international sanctions, Iran’s diplomatic isolation and its losing a regional proxy war in Syria and Yemen contributes to the weakening of the regime’s grip on power and the breakdown of the theocracy rule. The recent motto first displayed by ethnic Azeri Turks - "South Azerbaijan is not Iran" – is very catchy and now the suit is followed by Ahvazi Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Baloch people and other ethnic minorities.