Although anti-regime demonstrations appeared to lose momentum on Friday, analysts point to a significant segment of the population that may be pivotal in determining the nation’s trajectory: Iran’s diverse ethnic minorities, who constitute nearly half of all citizens.
Shukriya Bradost, a prominent academic specialist on Iran’s minorities who hails from the country’s Kurdistan region, stated to Digital that “Ethnic communities have not supported the system since the Islamic constitution was established in 1979 and have been campaigning for their rights for 47 years.”
In a recent paper she wrote, Bradost observes that “Iran’s protests have extended throughout the provinces, despite wariness and apprehension within ethnic groups.” She points out that Persians account for 51% of Iran, Azeris represent 24%, Kurds make up approximately 8% to 17%, while Arab and Baluch minorities constitute 3% and 2% of the populace, respectively.
She described Iran as “a nation of around 93 million people whose contemporary state was founded on a centralized national identity instead of ethnic pluralism.”
“The regime can no longer endure. It will resist until the last bullet as long as Khamenei remains alive,” she asserted.
Accounts from different organizations allege that the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader commanded the killing of thousands of demonstrators. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists in Iran documented 2,571 protest-related fatalities, whereas leading Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi informed Bret Baier on “Special Report” this Monday that at least 12,000 individuals have been killed.
Sardar Pashaei, president of the nonprofit Hiwa, which mobilizes a new generation of Kurdish activists for human rights and democratic reform, told Digital, “Ethnic minorities represent close to half of Iran’s population, and no substantial political shift can be achieved without them. Kurds, specifically, possess decades of experience in opposing authoritarian control and have repeatedly borne the heaviest costs through suppression, incarceration, and fatalities. Their involvement is not merely symbolic—it is fundamental to any genuine threat to the Islamic Republic.”
Pashaei, a former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion for Iran who also coached the national elite team, continued, “Apart from protest, ethnic minorities—Kurds in particular—are vital to preventing one type of tyranny from being substituted by another. Kurdish political culture strongly endorses democratic principles, pluralism, and women’s involvement, which explains the near absence of support among them for monarchy or lifelong rule.”
He remarked that “In Syria and Iraq, areas under Kurdish administration emerged as some of the most stable following the downfall of dictatorships, and Kurdish areas in Iran would probably be among the most stable after the collapse of the Islamic regime. Nevertheless, Kurds still encounter discrimination both inside Iran and within opposition political circles, despite the fact that a democratic future can only be constructed via a wide, inclusive alliance.”
Khalil Kani Sanani, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), informed Digital that two provinces warrant close attention. “Currently, Kermanshah and Ilam are ready to assume that part. The Kurdistan Freedom Party’s organizations and the National Army of Kurdistan’s units in those two provinces’ cities are both overseeing the rebellion and engaging in resistance and justified defense.”
He highlighted that the previous major rebellion originated in those areas. “On this occasion too, after Tehran’s crackdown, Kurdistan’s cities turned into hubs of insurrection against the regime, and from Kurdistan the rebellious sentiment has extended toward Tehran and throughout Iran.”
The “Jina uprising” he mentioned was recognized as the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement that swept across Iran after the Islamic Republic’s morality police killed a young Iranian-Kurdish woman in September 2022 for not wearing her hijab correctly.
Kani Sanani stated, “Our units’ actions against IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] forces in Kermanshah, Ilam, Lorestan, and Bakhtiari have inspired the populace and boosted public spirit. If the regime’s aircraft were denied access to those regions’ airspace, our forces would swiftly seize all cities in those provinces, and from there we would advance with a 100,000-strong force to support Tehran’s inhabitants.”
Siamand Moeini, a member of the leadership council of The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), told Digital that “The present administration lacks the capability or agenda for internal democratic changes. Consequently, the optimal option is a collective effort to overthrow it and institute a democratic framework involving all Iranian peoples.”
He further said, “Iran’s existing centralized structure does not reflect its people’s desires. Throughout the last century, autocratic rule and state oppression have caused the misery and death of thousands—policies that the people of Kurdistan have persistently opposed. Given the present conditions, we advocate for a democratic self-rule option for all Iranian regions, particularly for Kurdistan, which can properly meet the Kurdish community’s requirements.”
Moeini concluded, “Iran’s forthcoming governance system must be based on the extensive involvement and collaboration of all its peoples, establishing the groundwork for an authentically enduring and comprehensive democracy.”