This section addresses the history of the state of Iran and its ethnic structure. Persia was renamed Iran in 1925, Owen (2004:80) argues ‗Iran was occupied during the Second World War by British, American and Soviet forces, who deposed Reza Shah in 1941 and replaced him with his son, Mohammed Reza‘. On the whole, as compared to Turkey, Iran was ethnically and tribally more divided, economically and industrially less developed, and had a more powerful, conservative clerical establishment with which the modernising state had to contend. Regarding the state of Iran, Lisa Anderson (1987:15) argues:
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With the exceptions of Iran, Morocco, and the periphery of the Arabian Peninsula, all of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa are successors of the Ottoman Empire. Apart from Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Yemen, and Turkey, all the countries of the region experienced decades of European rule during this century.
World War I leading to the overthrow of the Qajar regime and replacement by Reza Shah was pivotal in the history of modern Iran. The Constitutional Revolution of 1906- 09 aimed to abolish the arbitrary regime and bring in a modern constitution and parliament. Iran was on the brink of disintegration, modernisation had failed, and growing frustration and pressure from the disillusioned middle classes, intelligentsia and urban population, set the stage for centralisation of power under Reza Shah. Resistance to foreign occupation and the establishment of a new order in Iran also owed much to the efforts of one man, this time Colonel Reza Khan, who took advantage of the political crisis of the early 1920s to manoeuvre himself into such a position of personal dominance that he was able to have a constituent assembly depose the previous Kajar ruler and the imperial throne in December 1925. (Anderson 1987:19).
Iran is the remnant of an empire, ‗[o]ver 3000 sq km of Iran were seceded from it in18th and 19th centuries in wars with Russia and Britain after Shiaism alienated millions of Sunnis‘. (Hosseinborr 2007:71). Afghanistan and a large part of Pakistan were separated from Iran when Sunni Afghans and Baloch refused to convert to Shiaism. Hosseinborr (2007:72) argues:
The Sunni and Christian in republics of central Asia were adequately alienated by the Shia regime of Iran before Iran-Russian wars started. They preferred to accept a Russia that did not force them to abandon their religion. Afghanistan and Tajikistan are Farsi speaking nations that were separated from Iran. The Arabs are separated from the Arabs of Gulf. The Baloch are separated from Baluchistan, Pakistan. The Kurds are separated from Kurds of Turkey, Iraq and Syria. The Azeri Turks are separated from Azerbaijan. Turkmen have also separated from Turkmenistan.
The struggle of minorities in Iran to decentralise the ruling system has taken a long time. Iran was called the United States of Iran (Mamalek-e Mahrooseh Iran with a
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decentralised system / Anjoman-haye Eyalati-va-Velayati). Iran has 30 provinces, 20 of them are dominated by minorities such as; Arabs, Baluchs, Kurds, Lur & Bakhtiyari, Azeri Turks, Turkmen, Mazendarani, Gilakis and Taleshis. Hosseinborr (2007:34) states ‗[t]he others are mixed. For example: About 65% of the population of Tehran is from Iranian minorities (none-Persian). There are 11 provinces which have Sunni minority. These Provinces include: Kurdistan, Baluchistan, West Azerbaijan, Northern Khorasan, Southern Khorasan, Golestan, Bushehr, Khuzistan, Kermanshah, Gilan (Talyshis areas) and Ilam‘.
Programmes of nationalisation and of a large-scale industrialisation provided the state with further opportunities for expansion and control. Everywhere else, the creation of an industrial base was seen as the essential component of economic modernity, expanding state involvement in the economy and the policy of carrot and stick to monopolise the society. Regarding the ethnic structure of Iran, Aghajanian (1983:219) states:
Iran is a country of diverse ethnic and linguistic communities. There are Kurds in the west and northwest, Baluchis in the east, Turks in the north and northwest, and Arabs in the south. Persians are situated today in the central areas. Through the history of Iran these various ethnic groups have lived in geographically distinct regions and provinces. Along with this residential separation, social and economic distance has long persisted and still continues among ethnic communities. Yet, regrettably, there is very little known about these inequalities in the contemporary history of Iran.
It is clear that ethnic diversity goes back to pre-Islamic times. Iran has always been predominantly populated by groups of people of distinct linguistic and cultural identities. Today there are five major ethnic groups in Iran, each organised around distinct familial and cultural patterns and has its own religion, language, and Iranian nationality. There has been some internal migration and movement of people to and from various ethnic communities, but the majority of the people still live where their ancestors lived. Owing to the polices of the Iranian authorities, knowledge of the minorities of Iran is limited. Aghajanian (1983:219) states ‗[t]here is not much known
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about the exact population figures for each ethnic community. The Iranian censuses in the last two decades have not considered the question of ethnicity‘.
Iran is a very large country. It is three times the size of France (Iran is 632,457, France is 210,026 square miles). (Shekofteh 2008:20). Therefore, from north to south, and east to west, there is vast variation in climate and terrain, as well as ethnic groups and languages. According to research of March 2008, there are 11 main ethno-linguistic groups in Iran, which are as follows: 1- Persian [(Fars or Pars), 34.5%], 2- Azeri Turks (25.7%), 3- Kurds (12%), 4- Lur & Bakhtiyari (8%), 5- Arab (4.8%), 6- Mazendarani (4.4%),7- Gilaks (3.2%), 8- Baloch (3%), 9- Turkmen (1.2%), 10- Talyshi (1%), 11- Ghashghayi [(Qashqayi), (0.8%)], 12- Others (1.5%) .(Shekofteh 2008:8). There may be some disputes about population size and problems with the reliability of these population statistics. All of these ethnic minorities have their own languages, cultures, and often literature. However their languages, traditions and cultures are banned. In addition they suffer poor legal status at the hands of the Iranian government and judiciary. Their differences usually emerge as political ambitions and demands, Shekofteh (2008:10) argues:
Minorities of Iran are not homogenous, most of them are from different nationalities; they face further oppression and marginalization due to religious, cultural & linguistics, illiteracy, politic affairs, poverty, gender and some other factors. Government has also implemented a systematic and organised policy of integration of all minorities, and assimilation of their culture and languages. Minorities in Iran are the poorest and most marginalised people in the society. They lack access to political power, with no political parties and no cultural forums, face discrimination and severe human rights abuses, and there is development policies imposed upon them.
The common language and script of the Iranian people is Persian or Farsi; however Azeri, Kurdi, Luri, Arabic and Baluchi dialects or languages are also spoken by the linguistic minorities. The official texts and documents, correspondence and textbooks must be in the Persian language and script. The Shia sect of Islam is the dominant religion of the Turks of Iran. Turkmens hold to Sunni beliefs. The Baluchi language is
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linguistically close to Pashtu, the language spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Baluchis are Sunni. The Arabs speak Arabic as their mother language and adhere to Sunni Islam, which further separates them from other Iranians. (Anderson 1987:15). A full examination of the historical development of the Kurds in Iran is beyond the scope of this chapter. The Kurds, who speak Kurdish, generally belong to the Sunni sect of Islam. There are a number of Kurds in Kermanshah who adhere to Shiaism. The Iranian Kurds, who mainly inhabit the province of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Llam and the south-west of the Western Azerbaijan province, have been dwelling in Iran since ancient times. The minorities of Iran face further oppression and marginalisation due to religious, cultural and linguistic differences, illiteracy, political affairs, poverty, gender and some other factors. The government of Iran has implemented a systematic and organised policy of to assimilate of their culture and languages.
Minorities lack access to political power, with no political parties and no cultural forums. They face discrimination, human rights abuses, and low legal status. It is clear that recognition of minority and indigenous peoples' rights is crucial to establishing and maintaining justice, stability and peaceful societies.
In addition to the population statistics as outlined above from research in March 2008, according to the World Fact Book (2008:33), ethnic structure differs and is as follows: Population: 65,875,223 (July 2008 est.), Ethnic groups: Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%, 4,611,265 Kurds DOS Background Notes (retrieved September 26) Population (2007 est.): 70.5 million, Ethnic groups: Persians 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%, 4,935,000 Kurds. Barkey (2009:24) states ‗[t]he term Persia was adopted by the West through the Greeks and was used as an official name for Iran until 1935‘.
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Therefore, Iran's history, will label many non-Persian Iranian‘s as Persians. Historically the use of the term "Persian" has included all the various regional languages of Iran, which is also debatable, because other main ethno-linguistic minority groups are not Persian. The Persian people‘s language is called Farsi (Parsi or Persi), which is used as an official language and also in the academic curricula currently, (all other languages are totally banned in schools and academia) in Iran. Hamidi (1990:78) argues:
Persian people mainly live in some of the State‘s central Provinces such as Isfahan (about 3.7 million), Kerman (about 2.5 million), Qom (about 0.5 million), central province (about 1.3 million), Fars Province (about 3.7 million), Razavi & southern Khorasan Province (about 3.5 million), Semnan Province (about 0.6 million), Yazd Province (about 1 million) and also in Tehran (5 million, about 36% of Tehran‘s population is Persian), and about 3 to 4 million are scattered in other provinces across the state. All of the borders‘ provinces of Iran are not Persian.
Farsi hugely dominates all other languages, as the central government has got an organised and systematic policy of promoting the language and, spends a lot of money on this. it. The minority‘s revenue and their natural resources income are used against them by an ultra centralised government. All cultural and civil activities across the state must be in Farsi; this discrimination is marginalising minorities‘ talents and squandering minorities‘ cultures, languages and traditions.
Accurate population censuses are difficult to come by and there are speculations available ‗[t]here are a considerable number of Kurds that estimates approximately 1.5 - 2 million who are living in Major cities in Iran, such as: Tehran (about 7% of Tehran & Karaj‘s population is Kurds), Varamin and Firoozkoh, Mazendaran Province (countryside of Cities such as: Daylaman, Sari, Kurdkoy and Noor), Gilan Province (Cities such as: Kalardasht, Roodbar, Manjil, Hashtpar and Assalem regions), and Kuhak region in the South of Qom‘. (Iran Federal 2007:12).
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Kurdish inhabited regions of Iran. (The Columbia Encyclopaedia 2005:57) There are also about 1.5 million Kurds who are living in Khorasan Province in the north-east of Iran. These are descendents of the Kurds who were forcefully resettled there approximately 400 years ago by the Iranian government of the time. (The Columbia Encyclopaedia 2005:57). The total population of Kurds all over the state of Iran is estimated between 8.5 to 9 million, which is about 12% of the total population of Iran. Cameron and Danesh (2008:32) state ‗[t]he Kurds are one of Iran‘s largest ethnic minorities. There are about 6.5 million Kurds in Iran, constituting between 7-9% of the total population and living primarily in the west and northwest of the country‘. The above different figures show that there is no consensus about the population of the Kurds in Iran.
There has never been any census on the number of Iran‘s ethnic groups. In the national census of 1986 there was a box asking people about the language spoken at home. But later, the officials changed their mind and asked people not to check that box. But now it seems it is necessary to have a census to find out the number of Azeri Turks, Kurds, Baluchis, Persian, Arab, Talyshis, Gilakis, Mazendaranis, Lur & Bakhtiyari, and Turkmen people in order to determine accurately Iran‘s ethnic diversity.
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(Cameron, G and Danesh, T 2008:71). The United Nations has 191 member countries. About 179 of them are multi-ethnic countries. At the top of the multinational countries is India with 1300 nationalities. Only 12 countries have nearly one nationality. Iran is among the top ten multinational countries of the world with about eleven distinct major minorities / nationalities and a few others. ‗[i]n 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaimed that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Sadly, for all minorities and indigenous peoples in Iran, this inspirational text, with its emphasis on equality and non-discrimination, remains a dream, not a reality‘. (Cameron and Danesh, 2008:73). The mosaic of peoples living in Iran reflects the geographical situation of the country throughout history. One of the major internal policy challenges during the centuries up until now for most or all Iranian governments has been to find the appropriate and balanced approach to the difficulties and opportunities caused by this diversity. To illustrate this, the following section examines the policy framework of the current state of Iran.