Milan () – A Baha’i researcher has been arrested and three other members of the same religious minority have been sentenced to several years in prison for their religion. Just days after the election of reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian as president, there are still cases of attacks or persecution of minority groups in the Islamic Republic on religious grounds. In the first case, security forces arrested Mojgan Salmanzadeh, a researcher and academic living in Tehran, while she was on a two-week trip to Mako, in the northwest of the country. The reasons for her stay, the circumstances that led to her arrest and the charges against her are still unknown; the woman was only able to tell her family that she had been transferred to the city prison.
A mysterious fact that adds to the list of arrests and persecutions against Baha’is in Iran, whose religion is not recognized and whose members have been victims of a policy of “discrimination and persecution” for decades. Proof of this is the confirmation in the second instance of the Fars provincial court of the sentence of more than six years in prison – plus a fine and 15 years of social restrictions – against three members: Hassan Salehi, Vahid Dana and Saeed Abedi for their religious affiliation to an “illegal sect and contrary to the regime” with the purpose of “threatening national security” and spreading “sectarian propaganda against Islamic law”. In this case too, the accusation of being “spies or dissidents” becomes a pretext to attack a minority, as has already happened on repeated occasions against Christians, especially Protestants.
Iranian, Turkish, Kurdish
The relationship between minorities and the Islamic Republic will therefore be another aspect to be closely watched in the first months of Pezeshkian’s presidency. In addition to being a reformist, he also has deep and long-standing ties with various ethnic groups. Born on 29 September 1954 in Mahabad, a province of West Azerbaijan, where the Kurdish majority is located, he is of Azeri ethnicity – like Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – the son of an Iranian Azeri father and a Kurdish mother. An identity that, in the past, led him to support the rights of minority groups such as Azeris, Kurds and Baluchis and to fight for the full application of Article 15 of the Constitution to all ethnic groups.
This provision stipulates that the “official language” of the country is “Persian”, which must be used in official documents and textbooks, but “the use of local and ethnic languages in the press and media, and the teaching of literature in schools, is free and coexists with the Persian language.” Along with Persian and English, which he masters perfectly, the new Iranian president speaks or understands several languages, such as Kurdish, Azerbaijani and Arabic. That is why he is also a strong supporter of the use of different languages and believes that the application of this principle would serve to contain separatist movements and internal dissident struggle.
The link with minorities is one of the elements that will facilitate a “positive development” of relations between Tehran and Ankara, as noted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who sees the “ethnic origin” of his Iranian counterpart as a “potential diplomatic bridge”. “Masoud Pezeshkian is actually Turkish,” Erdogan said. “He speaks Turkish in Tabriz, he knows how to speak Kurdish in the Kurdish regions and he is also an expert in Persian,” he continued. He also noted that his ethnic origin has roots in the Azeri community, a significant ethnic group in Iran, especially in the province of Azerbaijan, where Turkish is widely spoken. All these factors, the Turkish leader concluded, allow us to hope for a “rapid development” of relations, even if the reality on the ground remains full of challenges.
Islamic Republic and minorities
Confirming the importance of this aspect, one of the first measures taken by the president-elect (the 14th of the Islamic Republic) after his victory at the polls was precisely to meet on 13 July in Parliament with representatives of religious minorities. The meeting between Masoud Pezeshkian – who will take office on 30 July with the official investiture of the Supreme Leader – and the delegates took place in the Shahid Beheshti Hall in the capital and allowed for the raising of a series of issues ranging from greater inclusion in the government to dialogue between the parties. This approach based on confrontation – not on confrontation, at least in words – derives mainly from his origins, belonging to the land of West Azerbaijan, famous for the presence of minorities, from Azeris to Kurds. He also deeply reflects his own Azeri heritage, even though Mahabad is a predominantly Kurdish city, while keeping at its core the vision of Iran as a “unitary state” capable of protecting “minority rights.”
The issue of the “dignity” of the Iranian people, particularly women and ethnic minorities, has been the subject of campaigning even before the presidential election, but in practice it lacks “substance”, according to the analysis of experts and critics. Pezeshkian, 69, has addressed the issue several times during the election campaign, recalling the presence and role, in particular, of the Sunni Muslim minority among Turkmen, Kurds and Baluchis, who have been “deprived of their status and dignity as Iranians due to religious differences”. Like other candidates who have had a prominent presence in the power structures of the Islamic Republic for decades, the president seems to express himself on the situation of minorities (as well as women or the economy) as if he were an opposition figure and not part of the establishment.
In fact, his use of the word “they” is functional because all the candidates to succeed Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May, have been part of the Iranian “system” for decades. Khamenei himself, to whom Pezeshkian claims to be “indebted,” has repeatedly claimed that house churches are “one of the tools of the enemies of the Islamic Republic… to weaken religion in society,” just to recall one of the many attacks on Christians. Like one of Pezeshkian’s most prominent supporters, former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, a “moderate” claimed (lying) that “in Iran no one goes to prison for their beliefs” and that the stories of Baha’is and others condemned for their religion are “lies.” That is why the Christian activist website Article 18, An editorial by the Iranian newspaper Imam Ali al-Assad, who specializes in documenting repression in the Islamic Republic, explains that, regardless of the words spoken, until all Iranians are guaranteed basic human rights, slogans such as “Iran for all Iranians” or words like “Iranian nation and people,” “women,” “minorities” and “ethnic groups” are only “propaganda tools” that are no longer believed “by either the speaker or the audience.”
What is at stake in foreign relations
In addition to the internal issue regarding minorities, one of the key issues that the new president will be called upon to resolve is the figure of the foreign minister, one of the (few) key roles in the future Executive, which is strategic for establishing Tehran’s relations with the rest of the world. Although it is known that he will continue to “look to the East”, towards Beijing, and maintain strong ties with Moscow, it remains to be seen whether the chosen one will be able to restore international relevance to the country, as Zarif did in the past, the architect of the nuclear agreement (and who some would like to see return to office). Always keeping in mind that the appointment for Foreign Affairs – along with Intelligence, Culture, Interior and Defense – is made with the approval of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, because the ministry is considered “crucial” within the State apparatus.
He Middle East Eye (MEE), citing sources inside the Tehran government, reports that four names are currently being considered for the post, and Zarif, who is not popular with much of the ultra-conservative establishment in parliament, is not among them. One of the possible candidates – probably the most credible – for Foreign Affairs is Ali Akbar Salehi, an MIT graduate who served under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2011 to 2013, and who represented the country in international bodies such as the UN nuclear agency (IAEA). He was given the green light by Khamenei to negotiate the nuclear deal (JCPOA) with Washington. He is determined, resourceful and globally connected, and has a cross-party profile that allows him to obtain consensus even among conservatives, as well as being fluent in Arabic.
The second name is Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a former ambassador to the UN and Switzerland, who was also part of the team of negotiators on the nuclear issue. He has three recognised qualities: high specialisation combined with a low profile; he was part of the team that secretly negotiated with the US in 2013 and dealt with the current head of the CIA, Jake Sullivan; and he is a non-controversial personality, with a good chance of receiving the green light from Parliament if appointed. The third is Abbas Araghchi, who has already worked in the Foreign Ministry as a political director and nuclear negotiator. Known in Western chancelleries, where he is held in high esteem, the problem – in this case – is on the domestic front, as he is opposed by a large part of the Majles, where many of his “enemies” sit. Finally, there is university professor and former parliamentarian Mehdi Sanaei, former Iranian ambassador to Russia and intermediary in relations with Syria. This election, although not decisive, will help to predict the direction in which the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy will take place, particularly with regard to negotiations on the nuclear issue and the sanctions that weigh on the country’s economy and bring its population to its knees.
“GATEWAY TO THE EAST” IS ASIANEWS’ NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO THE MIDDLE EAST. DO YOU WANT TO RECEIVE IT EVERY TUESDAY IN YOUR EMAIL? SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER AT THIS LINK
Add Comment