https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-suffering-of-irans-ethnic-groups/
As we speak, Iranians are protesting against the ayatollah’s regime with renewed intensity, after it was discovered that up to 7,000 girls across the Islamic Republic were poisoned between November 2022 and March 2023. According to the United States Institute of Peace, hundreds were hospitalized with symptoms that included respiratory distress, numbness in limbs, heart palpitations, headaches, nausea and vomiting. Although the poisonings originated in the Shia Holy City of Qom and then spread throughout the rest of the country, South Azerbaijanis, Baloch, Kurds and Ahwaz are among the groups to suffer the most from these poisonings, as these regions have less developed medical services than the central regions of Iran.
This is merely one of many examples highlighting how South Azerbaijanis and other ethnic minorities in Iran are discriminated against. Other examples include prohibiting parents from giving Azerbaijani names to their babies; draining Lake Uria, the main water source in South Azerbaijan; limiting the use of the Azerbaijani language in the media, literature, art and in the educational system; and imprisoning Alireza Farshi, a prominent South Azerbaijani activist, for 10 years for encouraging the use of the Azerbaijani language on International Mother Language Day and distributing books in the Azerbaijani language to children.
However, not just the South Azerbaijanis got these grievances. All of Iran’s ethnic minorities including but not limited to Ahwaz, Baloch, Lors, Turkmen, Kurds, etc. got similar grievances. For this reason, Iran’s ethnic groups are presently up in arms. Over the weekend, 500 South Azerbaijanis and their supporters protested in front of the European Parliament in an attempt to raise awareness about this issue. The demonstration, known as the Freedom and Justice Gathering for Iran, was organized by Salah Kamerani, who serves as the demonstration’s spokesman, together with Mrs. Charifa Jafari alongside members of the non-Persian nations living in Iran, the Ukrainian diaspora, European journalists and the European Association for the Defense of Minorities.
According to a recent press release, “It was a peaceful demonstration organized by South Azerbaijanis to expose the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran who excludes non-Persian nations from all spheres of decision-making and spreads misinformation and disinformation about them.” The press release added: “The voice of each non-Persian nation has been suppressed in different ways and their basic human rights have been denied. South Azerbaijanis for 40 years have been struggling non-violently against racism. The source of the recent protests were women, youth and minority nations. South Azerbaijanis are determined to implement change, expose the racism in Iran and to bring their untold story to the attention of the world.”
