News

Simorgh5555 aziz, Thanks

Simorgh5555 aziz,

Thanks for your feedback and sorry for the late reply. I believe we agree on the basic concept that we support the right of self determination for a people if they are being oppressed. Of course aziz as you know the devil is in the detail. How do you define “oppressions”? What is the measure and how do you measure it? Who are the parties at conflict? As you said, is it the smart decision to make for a region to become independent considering limited resources..etc.

I am on the same page with you on that aziz. However, I refuse to let patriotic feelings cloud my judgment regarding the unity of Iran. For me, as I’m very confident it is with you as well, the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and if I may add.dignity..Of a people is way more important than the unity of Iran, especially if that unity is result of oppression and degradation of other people. Nothing should be more important than the life and dignity for a human being. Yes Reza Shah unified Iran, but what is the price that Iran, as a concept, paid for it? Should we support unifying under all circumstances? Why is Unity so important to us? Was Yugoslavia any less than Iran? The real issue is how we are defining Iran..If Iran is to be a nation that all non Farsis should adhere to the Farsi way of life and mentality and ideology, then, it’s not really Iran, is it? It’s FARS. I think that’s the problem with many of us Iranians that we think of Iran as the ancient Persian Empire and want to bring back its glory, and that is devastating to our progress and to Iran’s future. Living in the past and wanting to bring back an empire that was built on occupying other nations and submissive them (just like any other empire really) is dangerous, and is not only an insult to other nations, specially our neighbors, but an insult to whoever wants to build a modern Iran (Iran 2050 for example..hahahah).

We need to get away from this Aryan chauvinistic mentality. Isn’t it enough what it has done to our nation? That extremism is no different than Shia extremism perpetuated by the Fascist mullahs in power. And I’m glad that modern thinking intellectual Iranians like yourself are taking the initiative from those who seek the “Persian Empire” and want to build an Iran for the future not the past.

Thanks.

Thank you Iran 2050

Thank you for your gracious comments. I was equally impressed by your answer. I totally agree with what you say in many respects. I want to say that I would be fundamentally opposed to the people of Khuzestan wanting to separate unless the people of that region were so oppressed that there is no solution other than secession which is what is happening Sudan.

I do not believe that the right of self determination necessarily means having your own independent country and South Africa and Northern Irelenad proved that the different people country can reconcile their differences despite years of bloodshed and divide and live in a single state. For this reason, and also for obvious patriotic sentiments, I do not believe Iran should be divided despite the fact that the situation of Arabs in Iran is similar, if not worse to that of Palestinians in terms of discrimination in jobs, education, freedom of worship and association.  

Also secession will be counter productive because the population of the country would be cut off from resources, wealth and support of the country which it has left. Do you honestly believe that the Tamils can form a viable independent state or that the Basques in Spain can form a realistic government without the support of the central government in Madrid? It is absurd. 

Imagine if Kansas or Misouri in the centre of the USA declared independence by majority vote? It would be absurd.  

One of the biggest mistakes the Palestinians made was to adhere to the Two State Solution because the thought of living with Israelis was anethema to them. How can you have a Palestinian state with West Bank on the one side and a huge chunk of Israel in between it and the Gaza Strip? If they argued for the single state then this would have impacted the demographic makeup of Israel and eventually the Arab minority within Israel would be a force to be reckoned with. Now it is the Israelis who are insisting on the Two State Solution and even advocating Palesinian nationalism in order to guarantee Israel as a Jewish state. 

Finally, I would like to reiterate my earleir point. The Iranian population truly owes a debt of gratitude to Reza Shah for unifying the country. Even the Islamic Republic was not going to reverse his action and grant the Arabs independence. However, the mistake that Reza Shah made - which he was not aware of that time- was not to recognise and celebrate Iran's different ethnicities and cultures whilst celebrating one national identity. I can understand Reza Shah wanted to modernise the country and to a large extent it was correct to assume that Islam had stifled its developments. That was the past. We must now embrace our rich vibrant different communities which have been engraved on the walls of Persepolis. 

Simorgh5555 jaan, Thanks

Simorgh5555 jaan,

Thanks for the feedback and let me just say I have been following your comments and postings and I applaud you as a true intellectual unlike some extremists amongst us Iranians; either extremist when it comes to Islam or extremists when it comes to nationalism.

Oh boy, you did raise the toughest question there is: what to do in situations when a region wants to secede? Well, I think it all depends. And here is why:

-          I will not support if a small group of Khuzestanis take arm and want secession on behalf of the majority of population in Khuzestan. There has to be consensus among the majority of people in that region before it can have any legitimacy.

-          What if it has majority support? Well, first we have to see whether the actions of the central government or actions of authorities and people outside that region towards the people of that region was just or not. If they were just, then I won’t support it, if unjust, then the federal or central government has to give in as much possible in order for the region not to separate. I mean whatever it takes. If the federal or central government denies any injustice and keeps oppressing that people, then yes, I would support secession. After all, what is more important to a human being than his life and dignity? If Khuzesanis don’t have that, why they should be part of Iran? To make us Farsis feel good about some ancient Aryan prophecy that has no existence in reality? Is that fair to them?

-          What if the government gave in but the majority of people still wanted independence? Well, it’s a very tough question to answer. At that point, I’m not sure if I would support an independent state. But again, that all depends on other factors such as whether there are some foreign elements causing this rebellion, and other factors. Nonetheless, it’s a tough call.

What do you think aziz?

i hate the mullahs....

but never forget that KHUZESTAN IS PART OF IRAN..... AND DOESN'T BELONG TO ARABS ...

I'm from ahwaz, and grew up there up to the war 

Iran 2050 jan

I was actually acting as Devil's Advocate and I was not opposed to Reza Shah for uniting the country under one national identity which was correct. However, aside from our differences would you accept Arabestan from seceding from Iran? Arabestan was a seimi-authonomous region with its own ruler administered separately from the rest of Persia and had had a strong Arab presence since the Umayid Calipahte in the 7th centiry. Most of the people are Arabs and their mother tongue is Arabic. What makes their call for independence any different from the Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza who do not want to be ruled by Israel? 

Like Palestinians, the Arabs in Khuzestan have had their land expropriated by the central government, there has been forced settlement of Iranians from other regions on their land; they must learn Farsi in schools; they are forbidden from adopting pure Arabic names; they must have the Iranian flag. Compare that to the Palestinians who have still retained their cultural identity even if they have lost their land.

If the choice was down to you would you be prepared for Arabestan to become separate from Iran if the people of the region asked for it? Nevermind if Khuzestan was part of Iran many years ago - that is the same excuse Israelis give for occupying Palestinian land. What counts is what the people want in that region and not what happened a few thousand years ago.

Most Khuzestanis see their plight in the same way as Palestinians.

What is your opinion please?  

simorgh jaan, Agree with

simorgh jaan,

Agree with you 100%. Contrary to what Shah/Reza Shah perpetuated for 50 years to legitimize their reign and as result, what most Iranians think, Arabs don't hate us, and we didn't hate them up until the Pahlavi came to power and started this Aryan BS ideology.  

All neighbors throughout history had differences, as matter of fact, if invading Persia is reason enough for Iranians to hate Arabs for eternity, history shows that Persians invaded Arabic/Semitic land wasy before Omar invaded Persia. Koroush invaded Babylon, Sasanids invaded Hira kingdom, and we have always, and still today, looked upon them as sub-humans, even before they invaded us. Remember Khosrow Parviz answer to Mohammad messanger?

So who is the bad guy here, us of them?

Cause of all evils in IRAN is IRR/IRI

Down with IRR/IRI, its supporters & its thugs.