Just a few hours ago, Deutsche Welle Persian — whose track record is well known to many — published a report stating that the Iran Freedom Congress has run into trouble at its very first step: ethnic activists are protesting because their representatives have no place in this congress.
The Deutsche Welle Persian report explicitly states that how this challenge is navigated will test the future of the coalition. Well, we declare right now: the members of this congress have already failed this test from the outset. But before anything else, for readers who may not be familiar with the term “ethnic,” let me make it clear: “ethnic” refers to ethnicity — meaning Kurds, Baloch, Turks, Lors, Arabs, Turkmen, and other proud ethnic groups of Iran. For years, these ethnic groups have lived together under the flag of the Islamic Republic, have representatives in parliament, have local TV and radio stations, and their schools and universities are active. But across the waters, those who claim to seek Iran’s freedom haven’t even been able to form a congress where the voices of these ethnic groups are properly heard. What does that mean? Incompetence? Or the very hypocrisy we’ve been pointing out all along?
This Iran Freedom Congress, still taking its first breaths, has already become a spectacle of ethnic and tribal divisions. Ethnic activists say their representatives are absent from this congress. Why are they absent? Because those behind this congress either don’t believe in equal participation of ethnic groups at all, or if they do, they lack the practical ability to make it happen. The same people who raise the flag of a united Iran from abroad cannot, in practice, even gather a few Kurds, Baloch, and Turks around a single table. This is an empty promise. This is a slogan that crumbles the moment it tries to take on concrete form.
Another interesting point is that Deutsche Welle Persian has tried to frame this challenge using the term “pluralism,” saying the coalition’s future depends on how it navigates this challenge. But we say: in the dictionary of this crowd, pluralism is just a fancy intellectual word for the days before they reach power. When it comes to dividing seats and shares, that’s when it becomes clear that pluralism means “me and those who think like me” — not all ethnic groups and opinions. This is what, within the Islamic Republic system, we call national unity, and despite all its problems, we have managed to achieve it. But this scattered, narcissistic opposition cannot even manage a simple congress.
What’s more interesting is that this is the congress’s very first election — meaning they’ve only just begun, and they’ve already hit an ethnic dead end. Imagine what will happen to them in the future if they have to talk about federalism or ethnic autonomy? The same thing that happened to all previous coalitions: flight, passivity, and ultimately collapse.
This congress will either fall apart because of these divisions, or it will turn into a ceremonial, ineffective institution where only those who are already kinfolk get to speak. Either outcome is a victory for us. Because it shows that those claiming to fight for Iran’s freedom have no plan, no unity, not even the slightest understanding of Iran’s ethnic complexities. So it’s better that they stumble at the first step, so we no longer have to witness these ridiculous claims. And that is that.
Faeze Aghamohammadi