A coordinated campaign of resistance by Iran?s sizable minority groups ? Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, and Arabs ? could legitimately threaten the central power of governance held by the Islamic Theocracy leadership in Tehran. Recognizing and fearing this capability, the Iranian Government cracks down swiftly when an ethnic guerilla movement gathers momentum. Thus, in response to successful attacks launched by The Party For Freedom and Life In Kurdistan (PJAK) against military targets, Tehran risked the consequences of violating Iraq?s state sovereignty by firing artillery rounds and briefly sending ground troops into the PJAK zone in Qandil, Iraq . The artillery barrage rendered minimal damage to PJAK forces, but the purpose of the attack was to disavow PJAK?s notion of a ?safe haven? outside of Iranian territory.
PJAK touts ?democracy, federalism, and human rights? as its core values (See Article). It was originally a human rights movement in Iran that was violently suppressed by the government and now claims to have embraced militancy solely for the protection of its activists. PJAK?s twin goals are to preserve the ethnic identity of Iranian Kurds and to install a liberal and federalized democracy in Iran that grants self-rule in the Kurd, Baloch, Azeri, and Arab regions (Source). PJAK is closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ? a US designated terrorist organization ? and has gained military effectiveness since fleeing Iran and joining PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2004. PJAK, comprised of 1,000 to 3,000 fighters and thousands of underground supporters inside of Iran, has successfully used guerilla hit-and-run tactics to engage and kill Iranian troops.
Tehran?s problem with restive minority populations extends beyond the Kurds. The Azeris, who account for roughly ? of Iran?s total population, held massive demonstrations in NW Iran following the May, 2006 publication of a cartoon in a state-run newspaper that insulted Azeri intelligence and compared them to cockroaches. The protestors, reportedly over 100,000, torched government offices, specifically targeting the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. In the SE provinces, Jundallah ? a Baluchi guerilla group ? has launched several attacks against Iranian targets, including a brazen assault against a government motorcade that killed twenty and provided Jundallah with multiple hostages. The SW region, an oil rich sector in which Iran?s Arab population is predominate, has likewise experienced violent activity, including a spate of recent bombings that targeted government facilities and killed multiple innocent civilians.
In addition to repressive crackdowns, the Iranian government responds to ethnic uprisings by blaming foreign instigators. The violence in the SW provinces is routinely blamed on the British, Iran?s colonial nemesis, whose military forces are currently stationed in S. Iraq alongside Iran?s border. Alleged perpetrators of multiple bombings in the region were paraded before state television to confess that Iranians in Great Britain and Canada had ordered the attacks (Source). Furthermore, Iranian President Ahmadinejad has publicly accused the US of ?hatching plots? designed to enflame ethnic tensions in Iran and proclaimed US efforts at destabilizing the central government would fail (Source).
While railing against foreign interference to rally the domestic populace has been a time honored tradition in Iranian politics ? used consecutively by the Nationalists under Prime Minister Mossadegh, Mohammad Reza Shah?s regime, and the Islamic Republic ? its necessity highlights the precarious nature of Iranian nationalism. The aspirations of Iran?s ethnic minorities are an inherent vulnerability to Iranian unity, now exacerbated by two decades worth of suffering under the social restrictions and failed economic policies of the Islamic Republic.