As we speak, the Iranian regime continues to threaten Israel, America, Europe and the entire free world. The ayatollahs in Tehran chant “death to Israel” and “death to America” every day. There have been reports that Iran is working to rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which it will utilize for nefarious activities.

For these reasons, the time to act to stop the mullahs in Tehran is now. The time for talks has long since passed, as the Iranian regime is not interested in giving up on those aggressive programs and plans to use these weapons in order to harm the entire free world.

For this reason, the State of Israel must prop up the South Azerbaijani nation and other ethnic groups in the Islamic Republic of Iran in their quest to wage a revolution against this regime. Already, students are protesting on the campuses across Iran, undeterred by the brutal massacre of tens of thousands of Iranians last December and January. These students are the future of Iran, and the State of Israel must act to help them.

It is critical to recall that Iran is a multi-ethnic nation. Not everyone in Iran is Persian. According to former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akhbar Sadahi, South Azerbaijanis make up 40% of the population. And according to former minister of education Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee, 70% of the students in Iran speak a language other than Persian. Therefore, the non-Persian population’s grievances should be taken into serious account whenever the future of Iran is discussed.

The South Azerbaijanis have a non-violent movement that includes asking for basic rights, such as education in one’s mother tongue, which in our case is the Azerbaijani language. Many South Azerbaijani groups ask for Azerbaijani to be recognized as an official language of Iran. There are also groups asking for a federal system in Iran, and groups asking for complete independence for South Azerbaijan. All these groups are non-violent.

Rights and support for South Azerbaijanis

As someone who believes in democracy, freedom of speech, and universal human rights – as it is written in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights – I believe that South Azerbaijanis should have the same rights that Quebecois in Canada have or the Scottish in the UK or any group in a democratic society in Western Europe. Our people should have the right to vote for their own future, whether they should stay in Iran or be an independent nation.

As a nonviolent movement, our rights should not only be recognized, but our movement should be supported by democratic countries. After a century of witnessing dictatorship in Iran, our people deserve to have a democratic society. We do not need to replace one dictatorship with another one. The South Azerbaijani people want to join the free nations of the world. The South Azerbaijani nation wants to build friendly relations with every country in the world, including our friend Israel.

Azerbaijanis have a long history of being friends with the Jewish people. Azerbaijanis and Jews have peacefully coexisted with each other for centuries in the Caucasus region. The relationship between Israel and North Azerbaijan is extremely friendly. Thus, South Azerbaijanis seek to follow in the footsteps of their northern brethren and also develop a strong friendship with Israel.

Therefore, it would behoove the prime minister of Israel to support an ethnic group that historically has excellent ties with the Jewish people and to help them to topple the mullahs’ regime in Tehran, replacing it with a democratic system of their choice that will respect the rights of all of the ethnic groups in Iran. I promise Israel’s prime minister that a free and independent South Azerbaijan will join the Abraham Accords and be a strategic ally of the Jewish state.

In the past, I did a TV program, where I asked residents of South Azerbaijan to call in live and express their opinion on Israel. The question was, do they consider Israel a friendly nation or a foe? South Azerbaijani residents kept calling for almost two hours. We took fifty live calls from various cities in South Azerbaijan. All of the callers, without exception, supported Israel, even though it is a major risk for them to openly express it. We had fifty calls and not a single one of them was against Israel.

At the time, I asked for opposing views and kept going, in order to preserve balance. However, not a single South Azerbaijani person came forward with anything to say against Israel. Not only did the ones I interviewed support Israel, but they called Israel their brothers. I was stunned given the IRGC surveillance that not a single person called in to say a word against Israel.

Therefore, the South Azerbaijani nation must be taken into account when considering the future of Iran.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-888630