must all adhere to Shia Islam.3 These constitutional rules exclude persons belonging to religious
minorities such as Sunnis, Jews, Christians, Zoroastians, Yarasan or Baha’is from these key
positions. It also indirectly excludes most Kurds, Turkmen and Baloch who are Sunni in majority.
None of the provinces that are populated in majority by minority groups, like Kurdistan, Sistanand-Balochistan, Golestan, East and West Azerbaijan, is run by a person belonging to that
minority. 4
Positive developments have been slow and limited in scope, like the appointment by the
government of three Sunni county governors belonging to the Turkmen, the Baloch and the Kurd
minorities in 2017 and 2018. There are 324 counties in Iran, and therefore less than 1% are
currently headed by a person belonging to an ethnic minority. While President Rouhani created a
new post of Special Assistant to the President for Ethnic and Religious Minorities’ Affairs after
his election in 2013, the person appointed to this position does not belong to any ethnic or religious
minority himself. 5
In municipal executives as well, minorities remain largely under-represented. In September 2017,
protests erupted in Ahvaz after the results of municipal elections showed that only three out of 13
seats on the municipal council had been won by Arab candidates, which many suspected was the
result of fraud. The Baluchi, Kurdish and Turkmen minorities are also underrepresented in highand medium-ranking political posts according to Minority Rights Group International.6
Additionally, Members of minorities face serious hurdles in accessing public sector employment
due to the gozinesh process.7 Such process bars de facto minorities or anyone who are unable or
unwilling to accept religious requirements (notably adhering to Islam) from seeking employment
in the public sector.8 9 10
3
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Articles 5, 91, 109, 111 and 115. https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wpcontent/uploads/constitution-english-1368.pdf
4
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC),
Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313
&Lang=en
5
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC),
Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313
&Lang=en
6
Minority Rights Group International, Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights, Rights
Denied: Violations against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, March 2018, p.28, accessible at: https://minorityrights.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-and-religious-minorities-in-Iran.pdf
7
See http://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/92541 (in Persian).
8
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July 2019,
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/222/62/PDF/N1922262.pdf?OpenElement
9
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/05/most-yarsani-religious-minority-candidatesdisqualified-from-irans-2017-councils-elections/
10
Baha’i International Community, Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Iran, 2019,
https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/3
2