Pan-Iranism is an irredentist[1] ideology that advocates solidarity and reunification of Iranian peoples, including Ossetians, Kurds, Persians (including the Tajiks and Qizilbash), Hazaras, Pashtuns, Baluchis, and Zazas.
History
editIn the early 1920s, Dr. Mahmud Afshar Yazdi (1893-1983), who was a European-educated Iranian political scientist[2] (Dr Afshar was from Yazd and for at least 3 generations before him the family was in Yazd. He did not speak Azeri and no one of the Afshar family from Yazd speaks Azeri). The family may have been of Turkic Afshar[3]. (Dr Afshar was father of Iraj Afshar). In his youth Dr Afshar introduced the Pan-Iranist ideology as a concept of national unity[4]. Later in life Dr Afshar continued to support educators and linguists in promotion of the Farsi language. He donated much of his fortune to Dr. Mahmoud Afshar foundation which is the major sponcer of the Dehkhoda Dictionary). in reaction against the rising tide of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Arabism, which were seen as potential threats to the territorial integrity of Iran. In 1926, Afshar wrote the following in his "Ayandeh" (The Future) magazine:
| “ | National unity is today one of the most important international questions and realities. Whether we want it or not, in the future our nation will enter this political current, and this reality will one day became the mainstay of our state politics, as it has become the axiom of most states, especially the Ottoman state. Every politician must be well aware of this because national unity is the common border between domestic and foreign policy[4]. | ” |
In the 1940s, the Pan-Iranist movement gained momentum after the Allied invasion and under the influence of Nazi Germany[5]. During this period, nationalist intellectuals also sought to prove that Turkic-speaking Azeris are racially Iranian and called for eradication of Azerbaijani language[6]. Yet the attempts to establish a monoethnic Iranian identity were undermined by the fact that in a population approaching 19 million by early 1950s, no more than some 40% were Persians[6].
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, several political parties were formed based on the ideology of Pan-Iranism, among them Mellat Iran, the Sumka Party, the Arya Party, and the Pan-Iranist Party of Iran[7]
Pan-Iranist ideology, namely and the Pan-Iranist Party of Iran (Hezb-e Pan-Iranist). Though sharing this same political foundation and similar viewpoints on many issues, the two groups greatly differed in their organizational structure and practice. Both these parties are currently active inside the country and abroad. Since the Iranian Revolution, there have also been other lesser known groups, both within Iran and without, which have adhered to Pan-Iranism.
References
edit- ^ Binder, Leonard (1999). Ethnic conflict and international politics in the Middle East. University Press of Florida. p. 22. ISBN 0813016878, ISBN 9780813016870.
Pan-Iranism had a brief ideological life among a small group of Iranian fascists, but has fizzled and seems unlikely to gain new life. Like pan-Turkism, its essential aims are irremediably irredentist, evoking images of Nazi-era expansionism. For pan-Iranism, the irredenta are Bahrain, parts of Afghanistan, parts of Central Asia, Caucasian Azerbaijan, and the border regions of Iraq.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Abrahamian, Ervand (1982). Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton University Press. p. 123. ISBN 0691101345, ISBN 9780691101347.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Oberling, P. "AFŠĀR". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
AFŠĀR, one of the twenty-four original Ḡuz Turkic tribes
- ^ a b Vahdat, Farzin (2002). God and juggernaut: Iran's intellectual encounter with modernity. Syracuse University Press. p. 78. ISBN 0815629478, ISBN 9780815629474.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Baloch, Inayatullah (1987). The problem of "Greater Baluchistan": a study of Baluch nationalism. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden. p. 25. ISBN 3515049991, ISBN 9783515049993.
Under the influence of Nazi Germany, Raza Shah started the movement of Pan-Iranism.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ a b Central Asian Research Centre (1953). Central Asian Review. Central Asian Research Centre (London). p. 64.
Persian "nationalism" was in the air and ran riot in politics, literature and daily life. As century advanced, pan-Iranism gained momentum. It was sought to prove that the Azarbaijanis were Iranian by race; some clamoured for the eradication of the Azari language.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Siavoshi, Sussan (1953). Liberal nationalism in Iran. Westview Press. p. 72. ISBN 0813374138, ISBN 9780813374130.
sparked the creation of several small parties devoted to Pan-Iranism. Among these parties were the Sumka Party, the Arya Party, and the Pan-Iranist party
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