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| Mehdi Neimi |
Since schools in Iran began registration for the new academic year, some families in Ardabil, East Azerbaijan, and West Azerbaijan have shared information on social media or given interviews to the press about their children being subjected to the proficiency test. However, in some regions, education officials have denied these reports. In Tehran and Zanjan, however, officials have confirmed and defended the initiative.
According to Mehdi Neimi, the conflicting statements from officials in different regions might be an attempt to gauge public reaction.
"This is called testing the waters. For example, in one place, it is implemented, but someone else says it didn’t happen. Or in one village, it is applied, while in another, it’s not. It will gradually find its place. Maybe they don’t want to implement it all at once. But they could implement it slowly, step by step. As long as there is no serious reaction, eventually people will accept it and will go along with it," the political activist said.
Since the Ministry of Education announced the "Persian language proficiency test," it has sparked serious backlash not only from Turkish activists but also from public figures, writers, journalists, and members of parliament in Iran Azerbaijan. In the past, protests and mass uprisings had occurred in response to the humiliation of Turks in Iranian media.
Why do the assimilation policies carried out by the Islamic Republic against non-Persian communities not lead to similar protests?
Mehdi Neimi suggests there are several reasons for this. "One reason could be that people now vent their aggressiveness on social media, which provides some relief for them. It’s as if they’ve already protested in a way. Another reason is that there have been some divisions. People following line A do not accept those following line B. The fragmentation within the National Movement might also have some influence."
He points out the economic difficulties and other pressures weighing on the population:
"Economic pressures have exhausted people. The objective interests are now outweighing subjective interests. Also, perhaps the government itself initiates certain actions that drain people’s energy. When these factors come together, they prevent serious reactions. However, the potential for such reactions still exists. As long as people believe in change, more serious reactions than those in 2006 and 2015 may occur. People could take to the streets."
Mehdi Neimi also discussed some other current events during his interview with Voice of America, including reports about Iran’s currency potentially being changed from "rial" to "parse."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Mehdi Nəimi: İran hakimiyyəti qeyri-fars əhalinin təpkisini yoxlamadan keçirir