The recent border clashes between Iranian security forces and Kurdish insurgents near the Iranian Kurdish town of Marivan that resulted in the death of 10 Iranian troops is yet again another attempt at strengthening the militant separatist movement in order to destabilize the country. The diverse ethnic and religious mosaic that comprises Iran is one that historically has been tolerant, inclusive, and welcoming; however, an increase in violent border clashes and the rise of various separatist armed insurgent groups seeking to ethnically crave up the country signify a worrisome trend for the territorial integrity of Iran.
Many advocates of US-sponsored regime change in Iran argue that the claim of ethnic separatism is exacerbated in order to give regime apologists a case for preserving the Islamic Republic. However, Iran’s history of ethnic separatism is not only limited to the Islamic Republic; under both the Pahlavi and Qajar monarchies many attempts by separatist groups, often backed by foreign powers, were made in order to destabilize the country and further ethnic tensions.
Any US led attempt at regime change through military confrontation or invasion will not only result in the total collapse of all central governance or authority in Iran, but will also foster the revitalization of separatist groups in the ensuing chaos that will stir sentiments of ethnic nationalism to ultimately initiate the secession of many provinces.
Historical Cases of Ethnic Separatism
Following the abdication of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar Dynasty, the weak central government had little authority outside the capital of Tehran. Most of the provincial towns were ruled by rogue tribal warlords who held more loyalty to their ethnic identity than their Iranian one. The increasingly fractured and weak state of the Qajar Dynasty and its subsequent collapse led to various regions in Iran declaring independence.
In the response to the decaying state of the Qajar Dynasty, one of the first regions to declare independence with Soviet support was Gilan province near the Caspian Sea. Under Mirza Kuchak Khan, the Soviet Republic of Gilan was established in 1920 as a direct result of the armed militancy movement against the Qajars known as the Jangali Movement. The Jangali Movement was a fusion of socialist and Islamist ideologues led by Mirza Kuchak Khan in the quest for an independent state for the Gilaki people. After a power struggle between conservative and radical Marxist elements in the movement, and the withdrawal of Soviet support, the republic collapsed in 1921 and was recaptured by government forces led by Reza Khan(Reza Shah).
In 1922, Arab nationalist Khazal Khan established the independent Arab Sheikdom of Mohammerah in present-day Khorramshahr, Khuzestan province. Arab nationalists like Khazal saw it in their best interest to break away from the lawless state of Persia following the dissolution of the Qajar Monarchy and to establish an homogeneous Arab state. This posed a major threat to the central government in Tehran, who valued Khuzestan as an oil rich and integral province of the Iranian state. After seizing power through a coup d’etat against Ahmad Shah, Persian Cossack officer Reza Khan and Seyyed Ziaeddin Tabatabaee crushed the Arab separatist movement in Khuzestan with the help of brigadier general Fazlollah Zahedi and proceeded to capture Khazal Khan and place him under house arrest in Tehran.
Following the dethronement of Reza Shah Pahlavi and the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, Soviet forces occupied Iranian Azerbaijan and established the Azerbaijan People’s Government (APG) in 1945, an independent Azeri Marxist State under lifelong Azeri Communist Party member Jafar Pishevar. With its capital in Tabriz, the newly established Soviet satellite state was intended to provide the Soviets with oil concessions in Northern Iran in addition to a strategic hub for military and logistical purposes. With the absence of a strong centralized government and the accession of inexperienced ruler like Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was placed on the throne by the Allies, the Soviets ruled the entirety of Northern Iran.
By 1946, Pishevar agreed with the central government in Tehran to revoke the independent status of the APG and rejoin the centralized state. Later that same year, with the support of the British and Americans and on the orders of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Imperial Iranian Army seized Tabriz while Pishevar and other prominent Azeri Marxists fled to the Soviet Union.
Soviet meddling in Iran wasn’t only limited to Azeris and Gilakis, the ominous Red hand extended its influence over the Kurdish population of Northern Iran as well. With an absence of any strong centralized governance in Tehran, the Soviets began promoting Kurdish nationalism and Marxist principles in order to rally the people of Mahabad (Kurdish City in West Azerbaijan Province) against the predominantly Persian authorities in the capital. With the support of the Soviets, Kurdish nationalist Qazi Mohammad established the Republic of Mahabad in 1946. The newly established Soviet satellite state was short-lived however, after the Soviets withdrew due to immense international pressure, the Republic became isolated economically and militarily which ultimately led to its demise. Iranian troops recaptured the city in late 1946 and Qazi Mohammad was tried on counts of treason and executed.
Current Separatist Efforts to Derail Iran
Groups like The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), designated by the US Treasury Department in 2009 as a terrorist organization, The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), Ansar Al-Furqan, and Jaish ul-Adl all have waged a violent armed campaign against the Iranian state in order to partition the country amongst ethnic and sectarian lines. The unrelenting nature of the separatist groups in achieving their aims of destabilizing a sovereign and unified state has resulted in the deaths of countless civilians.
Kurdish separatists and nationalists have long aspired for an independent Kurdish state at the expense of many Kurds who feel far more connected to their Iranian identity. Since the Kurdish Rebellions of 1979, following the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent period of chaos and political instability during the early days of the post-revolutionary government, Kurdish separatist have reinvigorated claims to a state.
Current iterations of Kurdish separatist groups, like PJAK, an offshoot of the US designated terrorist organization known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey, and the PDKI, have engaged in a bloody conflict with the Iranian state in order to partition the country. In partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), PDKI’s leader, Mustafa Hijri has actively called for armed resistance against the state and ordered PDKI troop deployments to Iranian towns. Both PJAK and PDKI use their base of operations in Northern Iraq to launch attacks against Iranian border guards, towns, and infrastructure in order to stoke ethnic tensions.
Perhaps the most contentious region of Iran is Khuzestan, home to a wide array of ethnic groups including: Ahwazi Arabs, Lurs, and Qashqais. The Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, also known as ASMLA, with links to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, have hijacked the genuine grievances of the people of Khuzestan for their own separatist agenda. Through acts of terrorism and violence, ASMLA intend to achieve their so called ‘liberation.’ In May 2006, ASMLA detonated a bomb in the center of Ahvaz killing 8 civilians. More recently, in January 2017 members ASMLA targeted and blew up two major oil pipelines near the town Omidiyeh which caused fuel shortages throughout the province. ASMLA acts of economic sabotage are incongruent with their alleged support for the well-being of Ahwazi Arabs.
The oil revenues of the region and the fuel produced there are the bloodline of Khuzestan’s economy and the people’s livelihood. By destroying oil installations, and hijacking the concerns of Khuzestanis for water management and air pollution in the name of Arab nationalism, ASMLA are in fact undermining the welfare and financial prosperity of the working class people of Khuzestan.
Equally menacing however, is the emergence of Salafist Sunni militant groups comparable to the Islamic State (ISIS), like Ansar Al-Furqan and Jaish al-Adl operating in Sistan and Baluchistan. These groups continue to spew anti-Shia and sectarian propaganda in order to incite violence against Shias and other religious minorities. Ambushes, civilian targeting bombings, kidnappings, desecrating places of worship, and beheadings are all tactics employed by both groups to spread their jihadist ideology. In addition to promoting their intolerant form of Salafi Sunni Islam, the groups promote Baloch nationalism to rally fellow Balochi to carry out acts of terrorism. This dangerous mix of religious fundamentalism and ethnic nationalism can lead to a full-scale insurgency in the province that will cost thousands of innocent lives.
The people of Iran have genuine demands for greater social freedoms, political expression, resource management, and economic welfare, however this should not be instigated by US-sponsored regime change. Any US-initiated attempt at regime change will result in a complete collapse of the state and subsequently embolden militant separatist elements that seek to partition Iran. The push for change must be carried out by the Iranian people through an organic political movement and social resistance.
Cover photo: Members of Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) in a convoy along the Iraq-Iran border. Image courtesy of Sendika.org
