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| Alirza Ardabili |
Alirza Ardabili does not believe that religious conflicts will erupt in Iran in the event of the fall of the Islamic Republic. In his view, living under a Sharia-based government has secularized the Iranian population.
The journalist and political analyst, in an interview with Voice of America, analyzed the bloody sectarian conflicts taking place in the region while also addressing the importance of secularism (laicism) in states and political movements.
Alirza Ardabili considers the emergence of sectarian conflicts after the collapse of secular-dictatorial regimes in the region to be a natural phenomenon.
“Dictatorial regimes act as a lid covering existing societal problems. When that lid is removed, these problems emerge and can lead to such events,” he explained, referring to the sectarian wars in the region and the rise of groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
According to him, the marginalization of Sunni Arabs by the Iraqi government has played a significant role in the outbreak of these conflicts.
Ardabili stated that he does not believe events in Iran would take a sectarian turn if the Islamic Republic were to collapse. In his opinion, governments that enforce religious values as state policy ultimately contribute to the secularization of society.
The South Azerbaijani journalist pointed to a study related to Turkey in this context. He noted that a European study found that under the rule of the Islamist-oriented AKP government, Turkish society has become even more secularized.
The writer also shared his thoughts on why Arabs and Turkmens in Iraq participate in political factions based on their sectarian identity, rather than their national identity, unlike the Kurds.
“Under Saddam’s rule, Shiite communities were oppressed because they were Shiite, while Kurds were oppressed because they were Kurdish,” he said, highlighting how, in oppressed societies, the most persecuted aspect of identity tends to become the most prominent.
However, the political analyst interprets Iran’s future differently.
“In Iran, the most significant oppression has been against linguistic rights. The policies enforced by the religious government have actually pushed society toward secularization,” he stated.
“Not only in South Azerbaijan but across Iran, there is a general tolerance toward non-Shiite communities,” Alirza Ardabili emphasized, noting that sectarian intolerance exists primarily within the government rather than among the people.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Əlirza Ərdəbilli: İran əhalisi digər məzhəblərə qarşı tolerantdır