Layan Damanhouri
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – Several Iranian pilgrims from Europe who arrived in the Kingdom to perform Haj under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture and Information said that the Iranian regime has imposed on its citizens unified national identity and stripped them of their original race and culture.
“The biggest crime we’re facing is that our identity is being threatened,” said Kurdish Iranian TV journalist Jamal Poorkarim, who heads Roji Kurd TV based in Paris.
“The government attempts to strip people of their original identities so that it can force everyone to be Persian. It’s the Persianization of the people.”
Iran consists of various religious sectarian groups and of different cultural backgrounds, comprising Ahwaz Arabs, Balochs, Kurds, and Turks. About 70 percent of Iran’s population is not Persian.
“There is no freedom of expression and there are curbs on practicing one’s faith unless it’s within the boundaries of wilayat al faqih (guardianship-based system),” he said, in an interview with Saudi Gazette.
He said Khamenei has justified Iran’s oppression in the country and invasions abroad by self-proclaiming himself as God’s envoy.
“The reason Iranian government is shamelessly interfering in countries in the region is to export its revolution as well as to self-proclaim Khamenei as the ‘wali faqih’. Any country like Saudi Arabia that stands in the way of its aspirations will be attacked in the propaganda on a regular basis,” he said.
The country is poverty-stricken “with an unbelievable rate of unemployment” and other limitations on freedom to practice one’s faith, speak one’s native language, and have a dignified living, he added.
“There is no such thing as one Iranian identity and a single language and culture with population of Ahwaz Arabs, Balochs, Kurds, and Turks,” says Yaqoub Hor Altostari, head of the media office of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Al Ahwaz. “Non-Persian religious groups and sects are occupied by the regime and are treated as hostages of Khamenei,” he told Saudi Gazette.
All Islamic countries have cooperated in a systematic and organized way to send pilgrims each year. So one country’s claims that Saudi Arabia discriminates against Muslims are not true, he said, adding that this is part of the propaganda campaign launched by Iranian leaders. “It’s clearly a political issue with political motives”.
“Since the revolution, Iran has repeatedly tried to create direct or indirect problems to show the world that Saudi Arabia is not capable of governing the Two Holy Mosques. It tries to have a control on Haj. It also aims to attack the Kingdom and its credibility and to tarnish its image in the world,” he said.
Iran’s attack on the Kingdom claiming it to be incompetent to manage Haj is a continuation of the revolutionary regime’s scheme currently executed in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, according to Nassir Nabatzehai, a leading member of a Baloch party and head of the Baloch Human Rights Organization.
“How can Khamenei, the self-proclaimed ‘Ameer Al-momineen’, talk about Haj in this way when he won’t even allow Sunnis to practice their faith in Iran? Three million Sunnis in Tehran don’t have a single mosque to pray in. They have only designated spaces to pray but that too were recently demolished,” he said, describing one of the many oppressions faced by Iranian citizens.
“Saudi Arabia is facing such attacks because it is the only Arab and Muslim country that is capable of taking on governments that are racist and discriminatory against Muslims,” said Nabatzehai, who currently resides in Sweden.
When asked about the oppression against Iranians, he said, “The oppression is in all aspects of life. For instance, we are not allowed to practice our cultural traditions, speak our native languages that are non-Persian. It is not taught in schools as well.”
He said: “Religious groups are exposed to random arrests and executions on a daily basis. Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world. They would arrest people with sectarian or political motives such as Sunnis or religious preachers who fight for their rights to publicly practice their religion.”
Iranian children cannot have non-Shiite or Persian names. “Names derived from Arab, Kurdish, Turkish, Baloch origins are not allowed. Many have dual names, a Persian or Shiite name on the ID while another name they’re born with,” says Nabatzehai.
