THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC, BALANCE OF POWER, AND THE NATIONALITIES QUESTION IN IRAN
The nationalities question in Iran is no longer merely a cultural or identity-based issue. It has evolved into one of the central strategic variables shaping the political survival of the Islamic Republic and the future political order of the country. Any serious strategic assessment of Iran’s future must recognize that the widening gap between the center and the peripheries has simultaneously acquired legal, economic, security, and geopolitical dimensions.
Over the past four decades, the Islamic Republic has attempted to manage the nationalities issue through securitization, cultural control, and centralized governance. The outcome, however, has not been sustainable integration, but rather the accumulation of structural grievances. Today, a significant portion of political forces in non-Persian regions have moved beyond demands limited to cultural rights and entered a phase of political and governance-oriented mobilization. This transformation has fundamentally altered the nature of the crisis.
