1 Mehr / 23 September – On the Opening of Persian-Language Education in Iran
Appeal to International Organizations and Relevant Bodies
(South Azerbaijan Liberation Party)
Esteemed United Nations, UNESCO, Amnesty International, and all human rights organizations,
On 1 Mehr, the new school year begins in Iran. For millions of non-Persian children, however, this day is not a celebration, but a dark reminder of ongoing assimilation and cultural genocide.
The Islamic Republic of Iran deprives at least 40 million Azerbaijani Turks, as well as Kurdish, Arab, Baloch, and other children, of education in their mother tongues. Persian is the sole language of instruction in schools. This policy grossly violates not only the Constitution of Iran itself, but also the following international legal instruments:
Article 15 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran
UNESCO principles on “Education in the Mother Tongue”
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of the United Nations
Such a policy is not only discriminatory but, under international law, constitutes a clear act of mass cultural genocide.
At the same time, Lake Urmia, the national symbol of the Azerbaijani Turks and part of world heritage, is being deliberately dried up through state policy. This is an ecological crime against the wider region and endangers the lives of millions of people.
We, the South Azerbaijan Liberation Party (SALP), urgently call upon the international community to take immediate action:
Adopt a firm stance and exert sustained pressure against the prohibition of mother-tongue education in Iran;
Recognize the drying of Lake Urmia and the ban on mother-tongue education as crimes against humanity and publicly declare them as such;
Hold accountable, at the international level, all those forces that support and enable these destructive policies of the Iranian state.
We firmly believe that institutions entrusted with the defense of human rights and the promotion of peaceful coexistence must not remain silent in the face of these grave violations, and that their active engagement will yield meaningful results.
South Azerbaijan Liberation Party (SALP)
16 September 2025
