Recently, a draft law regarding teaching "non-Persian literature" in Iranian schools, which the Iranian Parliament's Education Committee prepared, was put to a vote during a session of the open parliament. 246 members of parliament participated in the vote, with 104 voting in favor of the proposal, 130 voting against it, 5 abstaining, and 7 not voting at all. As a result, the proposal, which would have allowed the teaching of non-Persian languages and literature belonging culturally to minorities living in Iran, was rejected, which is highly unfortunate.
The issue of teaching non-Persian languages in Iran is not a new one in the Islamic Republic, as Iran's current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, spoke about it more than once during his election campaign. He repeatedly stated that he would implement Article 15 and eliminate the discrimination against non-Persian languages. It is important to note an important detail about Iran's current president when discussing the languages of minorities in Iran. Pezeshkian is not ethnically Persian, nor even half-Persian, as his father is of Azeri descent and his mother is of Kurdish descent. This means that under a president who is not Persian at all and whose first language is not Persian, Iran still oppresses the minorities living within it and refuses to acknowledge their cultural status.
Many people think that only Persians live in Iran, but anyone who thinks that is greatly mistaken. About half of Iran's population is ethnically Persian, speaks Persian, and is mainly located in central Iran, but the other half of the population in Iran is divided into several ethnic groups and lives mainly in the peripheries or borders of Iran. Besides Persians, Iran is also home to Ahwazi Arabs, Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, Turkmens, Assyrians, Jews, and others.
The authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran have a particular obsession with the Persian language, a kind of fanaticism. No other language is accepted by the authorities, even though the languages of these non-Persian citizens of Iran have been spoken in the region for many generations. In Ahvaz, an Arab city in Iran's Khuzestan province in the southwest of the country, residents suffer from the racist treatment of Iranians towards them.
Throughout history, Persians have always looked down upon Arabs and viewed them as inferior and primitive. However, it seems that the issue is not really about the ethnic relations between Persians and Arabs but rather about how Iran uses its power. Khuzestan province generates a lot of income for Iran because it contains most of the country's natural resources (mainly oil and gas), but despite this, the residents of Ahvaz suffer from criminal neglect by the government. The use of Arabic is prohibited in any official capacity in Iran; more accurately, no language other than Persian is allowed in official spaces.
There are no street signs in languages other than Persian, as they have been replaced with Persian names instead of the original Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, etc. Cultural events cannot be held in any language other than Persian, and in addition, the state-run television channels in Iran broadcast exclusively in Persian, suggesting that the government does not seem to care about speaking to its ethnic minorities. In the public sector, no one who does not speak Persian as their first language will be employed, and no government services are available in any language other than Persian. This means that minorities in Iran are facing difficulties in obtaining help for their needs from the state's institutions. Even worse, there have been minority women executed for crimes in Iran and many claim that the language barrier played a role in their guilty verdict.
It is interesting to compare the Islamic Republic of Iran's attitude to the State of Israel, which Iranians often refer to as the "little Satan." Israel is a Jewish nation-state, and there is no dispute about this; it is enshrined in the definitions of the State of Israel (Jewish and democratic), and this is how its enemies view it as well. However, within Israel, an Arab ethnic minority lives, making up about 20% of the population. This is much smaller than the proportion of ethnic minorities in Iran and much more hostile (depending on the region and period, of course).
Yet, the Arab minority in Israel enjoys rights that ethnic minorities in Iran can only dream of. All streets in Israel are named in Hebrew and Arabic, and even English for tourists and new immigrants. Speaking of streets, in Arab villages within Israel, such as Kfar Qassem, the street names are in Arabic and are related to Arab culture rather than Israeli/Jewish culture, unlike in Jewish communities. There are even names that might sound very controversial when heard by Israelis. For example, in Kfar Qassem, Israel, there is a street named "Omar Ibn al-Khattab," named after the second caliph in Islam (which has no relation to Israeli culture), and there is even a square in the village called "Martyrs' Square." Names like this would not exist in Iran for more than five minutes. For example, if a street in the Jewish neighborhood of Tehran were named after Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, or if a square were called "The Maccabees" or "Zionism Square," the authorities responsible would face severe consequences.
Of all the languages oppressed in Iran, two are particularly surprising. First, let me talk about the Turkish language. Alireza Monadi, a representative from Tabriz and head of the Iranian Parliament's Education Committee, claimed after the failed vote in Parliament that "about 60 percent of the country's population speaks Turkish. This language is one of the most spoken in the world and is considered the third most spoken language worldwide. Turkish is an official language in many neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan, and linguistic and cultural ties with these countries could create opportunities for Iran." Therefore, the question arises: What is Iran's problem with Turkish? If I didn't know Iran and its character but knew the data about Turkish speakers living in Iran and the countries sharing a land border with Iran where Turkish is spoken, I would surely think that Turkish is the second language of Iran, taught like Spanish is taught in the United States.
The second language that surprises me the most is Arabic. True, the history between the authorities in Iran and the Iranian Arabs probably causes the decision-makers in Iran to distance themselves from their Ahwaz Arab citizens, but why are they distancing themselves from the Arabic language as well? After all, the most senior intellectuals of the legendary Arab empire were ethnic Persians. Most of the Arab literature was written by Persian authors, such as many of the stories in One Thousand and One Nights and similar works.
Why don't Iranians want to take pride in what their ancestors created, which influenced the entire ancient Middle Eastern world? A different perspective on the Arabic language in Iran is that Iran is, of course, an Islamic Republic, and the language of the Quran is Arabic! And as Iranian society becomes more religious, more Arabic words enter the Persian language. In other words, Persian "borrows" words from Arabic. Why do Iranians demean the Arabic of their Arab citizens while at the same time embracing Arabic words that have entered Persian? This is a question I have no answer to.
If the authorities in Iran continue with their cultural oppression, they will eventually harm Iran. Multiculturalism is a beautiful asset in any country. The integration of cultures can only enhance the community and lead to the creation of new ways of thinking. Moreover, people always preserve the tradition they were born into, and preventing the citizens of Iran from maintaining their traditions will mentally break them, causing them to rise against the regime.
I will end with Monadi's words after the vote in the Iranian Parliament: "There were 84 indigenous languages in our country, 40 of which have unfortunately disappeared. If we do not take serious action, we will lose a significant portion of our cultural identity. Our ethnic groups are valuable assets to the country, and we must take full advantage of this opportunity. Unfortunately, some indigenous languages have been threatened with extinction in recent years, and a well-written plan to protect and expand them must be developed".
Rachel Avraham is the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and an Israel-based journalist. She is the author of "Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media."
