Iran, a Failed Country by Enemies Within

Ardishir Rashidi Kalhur | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Iran is now in the same state of Shock and Awe that Iraq was on March 19, 2003! If the 12 Day War with Israel was the Shock, the Awe followed by the Zangezur Corridor agreement (1) that has made Iran’s foreign policy irrelevant and its strategic planning to be null and void. The regime has become seriously tased by a taser made in China, used by Turkey, and regrettably, its future impact condoned by the United States and Europe and other powers.

Iran has retreated from its military meddling in all parts of the Middle East with its head spinning, not knowing which path to take next. It is a truly a sad, sad situation for Iran. This is mainly due to Iran’s expansionist policies using Islamic Jihadism and martyrdom to empower radical Islamic groups with a clear goal to destroy the State of Israel.

The outcome would have been hegemonial victory for Ayatollah Khamenei and his IRGC Quds force to capture Jerusalem and become the next hero as they incorrectly consider Saladin (2) was in 1100 for the Muslim World. We the Kurds, know who Saladin was, and Saladin led with integrity and justice unlike the Persian Hasan Sabah(3) and the Iranian Ayatollahs and their supported proxies. Saladin never called for the destruction of the Jewish people, nor Christians nor their temples and Churches of worship.

A quick review of the last one hundred years of the history of Iran shows that Iran has changed its form of government from the feudalism of the Qajar period to the spurious monarchist regime of a father and son fueled by hubris and nationalism to the current power structure of religious- nationalism in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Unfortunately, none of these political and social structures have been able to save Iran from further political catastrophe, now hurtling fast downhill toward a state of total collapse and disintegration.

The principle driving forces causing Iran’s demise has been the use of Tehran based centralized and dictatorial government run by the extreme Farsi nationalists or religious nationalists around whom the rest of the Iranian nationalities have to revolve by the force of oppression not by force of attraction.

According to non-Persian people of Iran, Tehran is now known as Iran’s largest village inhabited by aimless and aloof Persian nationalists totally disconnected form the rest of Iran and Iranians. Given its true history, Tehran, has also gained the infamous reputation as being The World Capitol of Dictators.

Going back in history, the dictatorship of Islamic rule over Iran dates back some fourteen hundred years ago to the time of the rise of Islam and the defeat of the Sasanian dynasty of Kurdish origin. As a reminder, Kurdistan was the first non-Arab culture that was invaded and brought under the rising army of Islam under Caliph Omar, in 636 A.D. At the same time, the Persian nationalist ideology dates back even further to two thousand five hundred years ago to the time of the liberation of the Persian as the hired guards from among the Achaemenids tribe who were under the yoke of the Medes as vassals.

Regime after regime, the Dictators of Tehran, have crushed the voices of other nationalities living in Iran who for centuries have been lied to, deceived and their leadership have been physically eliminated by the Persian Assassins.

The demand of these nationalities which is basic and based on the concept of the people’s rights to self-determination to develop their own socio-economic conditions and rights to their own culture and natural and national rights which have never been addressed or acknowledged by the dictators at the center. This cultural diversity which in many parts of Iran has no commonality with the culture of the center, is viewed by the Farsi population as a threat against which the Fars have used all the political tricks and violations of human rights to force other nationalities to revolve around the center by force not by mutual respect.

In fact, the mindset and world view of the Kurdish people is quite in contrast to the political thinking of the dictators in Tehran, thus being the central reason for decades of fight between the Kurdish Peshmarge forces (4) and the forces of the old and the current Iranian regimes.

Albeit, the unfounded self-righteousness claim of ownership of Iran by the Persian minority in power, one other minority group in Iran is gaining equal footing with strong influence and decision-making power within the system.

The Azeris group assumed to be the second largest nationality with a large population living in Tehran estimated at 2 to 2.5 million, not only have high level representation in the current regime’s leadership but also have a substantial share of the Bazars (Iranian’s market) and economic activities.

It was within this group, the Bazaris (the merchants), who were instrumental in the Islamic revolution by supporting Ayatollah Khomeini to return and take power in Iran in 1979.

Iran’s Reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian, Tehran, Iran, 2024. Photo: AP

The influence of the Azeris have penetrated the Iranian polity to the level that both the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei (from the town of Khamaneh, in East Azerbaijan, Iran) and President Pezeshkian is from West Azerbaijan are the two highest positions in government.

Around these high- level figures are other influential Azeris who directly or indirectly have expressed kinship and loyalty to the Republic of Azerbaijan. Subsequently, the Republic of Azerbaijan and its leadership are under the influence of Turkey’s leadership who are the political backers and financiers of Pan-Turkic world that stretches from the China’s Xinjiang province to the Middle East and to Eastern Europe.

Beside the 12 Day War with Israel, the creation of the Zangezur Corridor connecting Azerbaijan to Turkey is the dream come true for China first, and equally for the Pan-Turkic geopolitical planners like Erdogan of Turkey. It will be of total surprise, if the Iranian leadership themselves being Turkified Azeris don’t know about the Zangezur Corridor being a part of China’s New Silk Road Project called the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) (5).

If the Iranian leadership don’t know about the BRI (A Chines Initiative), or PGII (6) (Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, A G7 Initiative to counteract the BRI) , then they deserve to be called by the pejorative adjective they have been known by Iranians. If on the other hand, they knew about it and did nothing to alter the road’s path or altering it to go through Iran

instead, then they must now be known by the rest of the Iranians, as The Enemies Within, determined to breakup Iran and give most of its land and people to the tribe of Turan (Turkic people).

Ferdowsi, the famous Iranian poet, describes in his historical-fiction story, the epic battle between the Iranians vs. Turanians (7) in which both nations after killing each other’s kings, heroes and soldiers, their battle becomes a draw. It seems that the Azeris siding with the Turanian this time has given the victory to the Turanain i.e. the Turkic tribes.

The continuation of this historical-fiction between the Iranian and the Turanian, manifested itself in the real story of the wars between the Safavids and the Ottomans and their rivalry in the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 A.D. (8) and onward to the present day assisted by the Turkified Azeris in favor of the Turks to defeat Iran and opens the door for future takeover of Iran and Iranians by the Turks.

Feeling betrayed, Iranians are in vehement opposition to the regime, and this collusion with the Azeris who on one hand helped to welcome Khomeini to import his regressive version of Islam to Iran, while also tacitly selling off Iran to the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), to come under the control of the neo- Ottomans AK party of Turkey.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh, an Iranian politician, artist, architect and opposition figure who served as the 45th and last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Photo: Creative Commons/wikipedia

Following is a quick review of Iran’s opposition groups vying for power to steer the future of Iran:

Various internal groups with Islamic orientation (9), most well-known among them is the 2009 “Green Movement Party” led by Mr. Mir-Hussein Mosavi, an Azeri also from Khameneh, where the supreme leader is from. Incidentally, this party cleverly used the word “Green” in their party’s name, fooling the world as if they were for green and sustainable environment and economic development, not knowing that the word “green” actually refers to their Islamic Ideology, derived from the color of Prophet Mohamad’s robe, and the symbolic color of the flag of Imam Hussein martyrdom as well, much used in the observance of Islamic holidays in Iran. This was quite the political deception as the Iranian Green Party was quite far from being an environmentalist Green party as known in Europe such as Germany’s Green Party.
External Parties: mainly consist of the following noteworthy groups:

2.1 Remnants of the defunct old regime represented by the shah’s son, and supported in full force by the State of Israel. This former kleptocratic group evoke nostalgic sentiments about the fictional Persian empire, royal painting of ancient kings depicted in children’s school coloring books, glittery lifestyle of the Persian community around Hollywood, plus the former Shah’s subservient policies to the US and toward Israel, comprises the political philosophy of this group.

They were hoping that the 12 Day War would cause the regime to collapse and would bring people to the street to support the return of the son of Shah and bring the kleptocrats back to power. Disappointingly, Israel tied its legitimate security concerns to a group who no longer have any popular support among the people of Iran. The hope of this Shahi group did not pan out, leaving them wishfully waiting for the next round of attack on Iran by Israel so it may bring them another chance of going back to the old politics of pillaging Iran’s resources. This is nothing short of a farcical fantasy, which must never happen.

Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), also known as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), 2022. Photo: Screengrab/video/X

2.2 MEK, or Mujahedin Khalq group, this group was born out of acts of terrorism both during the Shah’s regime, and notoriously during the early life of the current regime by acts of terror and assassinations which has added them to the list of terrorist organizations by Europe and the United States. This group if brought to power, will create a blood bath the like of which has never been seen, due to the ongoing blood feud between the current regime versus the Mujahidin with its history of acts of terrorism against the current regime. It will be a huge mistake for the United States and European countries to help empower this group.

With no viable options left for the formation of a future government to manage Iran as a unified country, what course of action then remains for the opposition groups and in particular national minorities who have given up hope for a Democratic Iran. Following are some options to consider:

Option 1, (though next to impossible) is for all the Iranian opposition to join forces with the current government, bad and primitive though it may be, for the singular purpose preventing the catastrophic defeat of Iran by the Turanian forces (the neo-Ottomans). This would first require that the government of Iran give up its deep-seated hatred of the State of Israel and accept the terms and conditions of the United States in the nuclear negotiations. Then, with the help of all opposition groups collectively to form a formidable military force able to defeat the neo-Ottomans and their agents, aka The Enemies Within.

This would mean Iranian military expansion into the Republic of Azerbaijan to bring that country under Iran’s control and remove it from domination by Turkey. After all, prior to the Turkification of the people of Azerbaijan, they were historically, and culturally part of the greater Iranian people. This would interrupt not only the BRI project, but also prevent the flow of hundreds, if not millions of Uyghurs likely to be driven out of China into the Middle East and Europe. The BRI is good for China not only as a economic blood line, but is also a road to get rid of its restive Uyghur Islamic population and send them West.

The BRI would also benefit the neo-Ottoman regime of Erdogan as Turkey would become the stockroom from which Chinese goods would get access to Europe. Turkey would also inundate Iran, Kurdistan, the rest of the Middle East and even Europe with wave after wave of Uyghur Turks similar to past invasions such as those in the era of Genghis Khan to help exert Turkic/Islamic control over the region. Israel must surely be aware of this neo-Ottoman plan as they will have no chance to deal with an exodus of millions of members of Turkistan Islamic Party migrating to the Middle East, specifically in Syria and at the doorstep of Israel.

Option 2), This option is for the National minorities in Iran to realize that Option (1), as far as Iranian unity, invading Azerbaijan and interrupting China’s BRI project is nothing but wishful thinking and as mentioned, would be unlikely and next to impossible. Option (2) would mean that when option (1) is not an option, then each nationality in Iran would take it upon themselves to figure out their own course of action to determine their own future regardless to what might happen to the central Dictators of Tehran.

Following is what this writer thinks of a course of action available to the Kurds of Rojhalat which requires serious consideration to act in a timely manner to avoid harms from a potential civil war from the inevitable deterioration from within and eventual fall of the Iranian regime.

Kurdish Option:

Kurdish PJAK/PKK female fighter — Iranian Kurdish PJAK female fighter, 2015. Photo: Guerrillas

Kurds of Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan), have historically been restive with the aims to create an Independent Kurdistan. The ground on which the Kurds have sought and fought the Iranian government for independence is rooted in decades of systematic destruction of the Kurdish culture by the central dictators of Tehran, and more so by the Turks.

Their political intents, actions and administration of the Kurdish region in Iran, Rojhelat, can be summarized with the following differences the Kurdish people have with the detested political culture of Tehran’s dictatorial regime.

There exists a major divide in civic thinking and political ideology that separate the Kurds from that of the Farsi and the Turkish people.
Differences in linguistic, cultural, music, religion, colorful clothing and other traditional practices are vividly distinguishable between the two cultures.
Difference in nature and the environment, with rich natural resources, especially woodlands, agricultural producing fertile lands, water, oil, gas, and precious minerals.
Differences in respect for human rights such as in Kurdish culture women’s rights are equal to man’s right. There is a Kurdish saying:

Nymig le dunya zhenin, Au nymegeh zhyan le zhenin.

Its meaning is:

Half of the world’s population are women, the other half, simply owe their lives to them. This difference was self-evident by Zhina Amini’s tragic death and the massive demonstrations that followed. Simply stated, Tehran is not the place for women’s rights or human rights.

Kurds depend on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Law and Rights to Self-Determination of people, by which they are determined to go for independence away from the unscrupulous culture of the center.
Depriving Kurdish children from being educated in their mother language, while promoting a language of the center that has produced a culture of Jihadism and terrorism.
Depriving the Kurdish region from being developed economically and industrially.
Exploitation of the natural resource in Rojhalat to enrich and to empower Tehran’s Dictators and their kleptocratic cronies.
Prevention of Kurdish people of Iranian Kurdistan to trade freely and to continue their natural bond of cultural and family relations with the Kurds within the Greater Kurdistan in the neighboring countries.
Differences in religious beliefs that are non-Islamic, such as Yaresan faith, traceable to the Magian faith and the three wise men mentioned in the Christian Nativity story. The tenet of

Yaresan is profoundly different from Iran’s official religion of Shia Islam, and Yaresan followers have suffered tremendously from religious intolerance under the Iranian regime.

The above differences, the history of human rights violations by past and current governments in Tehran, and the respect and understanding of international laws and standards to form a better society are what separate the political thinking of Kurds of Rojhelat from the sociopathic polity and behavior of the central government run by Tehran dictators. These factors in addition to total uncertainty about the future of Iran, drives the legitimacy of the Kurdish aspiration to call and declare their independence from Iran.

Kurdistan is a land of mystery and wonder, the cradle of civilization, that continues to inspire the humanity in us to desire to change and create ideas anew on the sites of the old cultures.

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