Though Tatchell doesn't mention it, the bombings that the 10 Arab men are accused of killed people, a case of terrorism:
<blockquote>Much of Iran's Arab community lives in the province of Khuzestan which borders Iraq. It is strategically important because it is the site of much of Iran's oil reserves, but the Arab population does not feel it has benefited as much from the oil revenue as the Persian population. Historically, the Arab community has been marginalised and discriminated against. Tension has mounted among the Arab population since April 2005, when scores of Arabs died, hundreds were injured and hundreds more detained following demonstrations in protest at a letter allegedly written in 1999 by a presidential adviser, who denied its authenticity. This appeared to set out policies for the reduction of the Arab population of Khuzestan, including resettling Arabs in other regions of Iran, resettling non-Arabs in the province, and replacing Arabic place names with Persian ones. The text, with an English translation, can be found at http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/images/ahwaz-khuzestan.pdf; the supposed author's denial that he wrote the letter, along with an explanation of the contents, can be found (in Persian) at http://www.webneveshteha.com/. The security forces appear to have used excessive force in stopping the demonstration resulting in unlawful killings or possible extra-judicial executions.
Since then, the cycle of violence has intensified in the province. Scores of Arabs were arrested following four pre-election bomb blasts in Ahvaz and two others in Tehran which killed up to 10 people and injured at least 90. Other bombs in October 2005 and January 2006 killed at least 12 people and were followed by waves of arrests. Arrests have also followed demonstrations on culturally significant occasions such as the Muslim festivals of 'Id al-Fitr and 'Id al-Adha. Amnesty International has received the names of around 500 Iranian Arabs detained since April 2005, some repeatedly, although the true number of detainees is likely to be much higher. ("11 Iranian Arab Men Facing Death Sentences," 17 May 2006, <http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130512006?open&of=ENG-2MD>)</blockquote>
The Iranian government should not execute these men, whether or not they are actually implicated in terrorism in any way, nor any other.
But Tatchell's article is riddled with inaccuracies:
E.g.,
> In a bid to crush Arab ethnic identity, Tehran has banned Arab
> language newspapers and educational text books.
Arabic being the language of Koran, it is taught in public schools from grade 6, and the Iranian government uses Arabic (as well as other languages) in its own media as well.
And what are we to make of this?
> Tehran has made instruction in Farsi (Persian) compulsory in Ahwazi schools.
To my knowledge Farsi is a compulsory subject in school in all of Iran, just as English is in the USA. While I regard multilingual education as valuable, I would not go so far as to say that the teaching of English as the primary language here is an injustice, though the proportion of Spanish-speakers here (about 10% of the population*) is far larger than the Arabs in Iran (about 3% of the population).
And the Persian domination?
> Ahwazis allege anti-Arab persecution by the Persian-dominated Tehran
> regime, which they accuse of "racism" and "ethnic cleansing." Other
> minority nationalities face similar oppression by "Persian
> chauvinists": Kurds, Azeris, Turkmen and Baluchis.
Ali Shamkhani, an Arab man, was the Iranian Minister of Defense from 1997 to 2005. The Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, is an Azeri. Etc. IMHO, the Iranian government under the Islamic Republic has been more multiethnic than most other governments in the world, including the UK government.
* "Spanish speakers increased from 17.3 million in 1990 to 28.1 million in 2000, a 62 percent rise. Just over half the Spanish speakers reported speaking English 'very well'" ("Nearly 1-in-5 Speak a Foreign Language at Home; Most Also Speak English 'Very Well,' Census Bureau Reports," 8 October 2003, <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001406.html>).
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>