The domestic unrest is something that relates to all sectors of society in Iran. The ethnic minorities are being particularly outspoken after decades of suppression and discrimination.

The United States is using sanctions to cut the regime off from the funding that it uses to finance terrorist activities and proxy groups and militias across the region. The Trump administration has said that it is trying to squeeze the Iranian regime until something gives so that its malign behaviour ends.

The Iranian regime has been backed into a corner by the United States and by the people of Iran. It has nowhere else to turn and it is reacting by lashing out at the people. Protesters are at more risk than ever of being arrested, imprisoned, tortured or even executed for carrying out activities in which the regime sees as a threat.

Many of the protests across the country have been driven by minorities such as the Baluch community, the Ahvaz Arabs and the Kurds. As well as calling for regime change, they are making their specific demands known – such as the right to use their language in native schools.

It must be noted that around half of the citizens of Iran are from non-Persian minority groups and many of them live in communities that border and share ties with Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan.
As the international sanctions really take hold, the Iranian Regime will gradually face more and more difficulties and it is likely that this will result in further protests and anti-government demonstrations.

The people are supported by the main opposition, the Iranian Resistance, that is working towards a future free and democratic Iran. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has a ten-point plan for a brighter future for the people of Iran. She indicated that the Resistance is dedicated to having a legitimate political system in place where there is freedom of parties and assembly.

She said that the Resistance wants the death penalty abolished and believes in a legal system that is based on “the principles of presumption of innocence, the right to defense, effective judicial protection and the right to be tried in a public court”.

With regards to the discrimination against minorities, Mrs. Rajavi emphasises that everyone will be treated as equals. “We are committed to the Universal Declaration of Humans Rights, and international covenants and conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.

We are committed to the equality of all nationalities. We underscore the plan for the autonomy of Iranian Kurdistan, adopted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The language and culture of our compatriots from whatever nationality, are among our nation’s human resources and must spread and be promulgated in tomorrow’s Iran.”