A lot has been written on Iran during the last six months except for one thing: its minorities. Apart from a statement by President Donald Trump during the initial stages of the conflict about arming the Iranian Kurds, the issue has attracted little attention. That omission matters. The rights of Iran’s minorities must be central to any serious discussion of the country’s future.
Trump rightfully supported the pro-democracy protests in January, which led to brutal state crackdowns and thousands of deaths. The subsequent attacks were also partially motivated by keeping his promise to help the protesters, though extreme state brutality defused any chance of a popular uprising. Yet even in this discussion, the notable omission has been Iran’s minorities, who face a perpetual crackdown and have been on the receiving end of state oppression for centuries.
For context, up to 40% of Iran’s population comprises non-Persian groups, of which the Azeris and Kurds comprise the largest populations. Then there is the religious dichotomy, where up to 20% of the population follows non-Shiite faiths. The largest of these are the Sunnis, with smaller populations of Baha’is, Jews, and Zoroastrians. The bulk of state brutalities is also directed against these religious minorities. Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch report persecution of Baha’is, Sunnis, and other groups. The Balochs in the southeast and the Kurds in the northwest are overwhelmingly Sunni and have faced the most brutal state oppression, which predates the ayatollah takeover in 1979.
The Balochs, divided between Pakistan and Iran, have a storied history. Fiercely independent, they gave Persian dynasties a tough time and were subdued at great cost. The Mughals and then the British rulers of India were more lenient, allowing them internal autonomy and cultural freedoms. The same was not true in Iran, where the Qajars subjected them to forced Persianization and Shiification. The shah of Iran, along with Pakistan, launched a bloody operation against an insurgency in the 1970s, killing thousands on both sides of the border.
After 1979, the ayatollahs doubled down on the repression. Human rights organizations routinely report enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, shady trials, and executions. In one episode in 2022, for example, Iranian authorities killed at least 82 Baloch protesters. They face hurdles in exercising their cultural and economic freedoms and live as second-class citizens.
The same is true for Kurds in the north. Iran has systemically repressed them. They were able to cobble together a brief republic in 1946, which the state quickly dismantled. Subsequent unrest, state brutalities, and religious and cultural discrimination has since become the default. Mahsa Amini, the brave woman who stood up to Iran’s morality police, was also a Kurd. Her murder led to the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, but her ethnic identity was erased in the process. Kurds continue to face a lot of challenges. Even while facing an assault from America during the early stages of the recent conflict, Iran still found time to target them.
IRAN’S REGIME CAN ARREST PROTESTERS. IT CAN’T OUTRUN EMPTY STOMACHS
Make no mistake. Almost everyone in Iran has a horror story to tell about the regime’s brutalities. But a distinction can still be made. There is a two-tiered level of oppression in Iran. For the ethno-religious majority, the math is simple. Just don’t raise your voice for your rights, or you will be staring down the barrel of a gun. If you are a minority, you do not have any rights to begin with, and state oppression does not require a protest. It is part of your daily routine.
The way forward for the Trump administration is to seek pathways to address this problem. The first step should be to acknowledge the long-running persecution of Iranian minorities and bring it into the discussion. The second should be targeted sanctions, ideally in tandem with global support, to punish Iran for its transgressions. This will also provide a more tangible and enduring punitive mechanism than arbitrary economic sanctions currently in place. In sum, Iranian minorities are facing a desperate situation and America has the means to help them.
Saad Khan is an independent researcher on religion and extremism with a Ph.D. in political science from Georgia State University.