Cordoning the Kurds in Iran: How the mullahs are dealing with minorities

The Islamic Revolution had promoted fair slogans for minorities in general within Iran, against the background of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's support of all followers of heavenly religions and oppressed nations. Iran’s Shiites argued that one of the most important principles governing the new Iranian regime after the Shah's departure was “exporting the revolution” with the intent of protecting and liberating the oppressed around the world from the forces of tyranny.

However, the mullah regime in Iran has become quite the opposite after the clerics took control of the state. The issue of human rights in general and minorities in particular has become one of the most important issues Tehran is trying to avoid in the face of scrutiny from international human rights organizations.

Iranian minorities face large campaigns of repression, with torture inflicted against those who claim their rights, whether religious, cultural, ethnic, political or economic.

Khomeini claimed that the revolution would establish a state of justice, faith and tolerance, putting an end to the era of Persian oppression and fanaticism by overthrowing the regime of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and restoring the rights of the minorities. But what emerged was Khomeini’s desire to align Iran’s various sects and religions behind the Islamic Revolution, evidenced by the ill-treatment of minorities.

The number of Kurds in Iran cannot be determined due to the fact that there are no official statistics on the number of minorities in the country. Iran considers the declaration of any number in terms of ethnicity as a political weapon against it.

Although the Kurds of Iran want recognition of their identity within the Iranian society, as they do throughout the region, the mullah regime lies in ambush for them, especially since the Kurds of Iran have limited historical experience in an independent government, with only the state of Mahabad which lasted for only a short period but was enough to inspire the Kurds to feel the desire for independence.

After the Kurds participated in the success of the Islamic Revolution, they expected to obtain some privileges, but they are currently subject to grievances, the most important of which is the ban on Kurdish language education in schools and the restriction on the publication of books written in the Kurdish language, despite the provisions of Article 15 of Chapter II of the Iranian constitution on the right of minorities to use their own languages ​​in educational and cultural fields.

Article 19 of Chapter III of the constitution states there can be no discrimination against Iranians on an ethnic basis, but the Kurds admit that there is discrimination against them in access to employment and admission to universities, even those who occupy senior positions in the Kurdish areas. There are also large percentages of unemployment in the Kurdish areas. They are also not allowed to express their political opinion, and the Iranian authorities impede any idea of ​​forming political parties.

The US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran and its solidarity with the Kurds of Syria and Iraq has weakened Tehran's position towards the Kurds within the Islamic Republic. Washington considers the Kurds key to achieving its interests in the Middle East. Hence, the US supports them as an obstacle to Iran's expansion. Here we will present Washington's relationship with both the Kurds of Syria and Iraq, along with the negative impact on Tehran:

 

The United States has always wanted to put an end to Iran's unbridled desire to control most of the Arab states in the Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria. Hence, Washington's strategy has historically been to restrain Iraq and Iran, as well as protect its interests in the Middle East, especially in light of Washington's “divide and conquer” policy. Thus, relations between the US and Kurdistan began in 2005.

Therefore, Iran opposed the Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq, which was strongly supported by Washington, seeing that it would be hurt if the Kurds succeeded in forming their desired state, as the province has a border with Iran that exceeds 400 kilometers and extends within Iranian territory.

Tehran rejects any US projects or support for the Kurds in the region. Hence, Iran seeks the existence of a unified Iraqi government and people, because its strategic interests require it. Tehran fears that a strong Kurdistan will be close to Washington's ally Israel.

 

The American exit from Syria is considered a stumbling block to the Kurdish aspirations in Damascus to form a confederate state, which was announced in 2016, where the Kurdish political work in Syria was confined to regulating their situation in Damascus, which often led to internal splits. The Kurds' demands in Syria were primarily about obtaining some political and social rights. However, in the final statement of the Democratic Union Party in 2005, the state was urged to make changes and move to the democratic confederation system, but these demands were not clearly defined.

The outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011 and the great support provided by the US to the Kurds in Syria was a moral victory for the Kurds of Iran and the entire region seeking to form their own state, and hence the American exit from Syria is a big blow to the Kurds.

Finally, minority groups within Iran, especially the Kurds, suffer many political, economic and social injustices. Their rights are rarely recognized, despite the great support given to them by human rights organizations. The Iranian constitution has detailed the rights of minorities, but the Iranian regime accepts only the totalitarianism, in which the rights of dominant ruling and ethnic groups are recognized regardless of the rights of other ethnicities, to the extent that the Kurds in Iran deliberately appear in Sunni sectarian rather than Kurdish ethnicity. The Iranian regime accepts only totalitarianism in which the rights of the dominant ruling and ethnic groups are recognized at the expense of the rights of other ethnicities, to the extent that the Kurds in Iran are purposely appearing in Sunni sectarian rather than Kurdish ethnicity.

Despite apparent international support from Washington and the European Union for Kurdish rights in the region, the United States, especially under the Trump administration, only deals with the Kurds in the region with purely utilitarian logic.