CDI's Letter to the Prime Minister of Israel
May 3, 2023
His Excellency Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel
C/O Embassy of Israel in Ottawa
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:
Canadians for democracy in Iran, CDI, strongly condemns the letter signed by 32 Israeli Knesset deputies to provide international support to the “south” Azerbaijani “independence” movement, a region in northern Iran. We consider signing this letter as a serious violation of Iranian territorial-integrity which cannot be tolerated by the Iranian people.
As Iranians living in diaspora and exile, we are outraged by this misguided statement, and we will never recognize a separatist initiative against our homeland’s territorial integrity under the false narrative that “an international support to corroborate any separatist movement within Iran will deal a serious blow to the regime of Tehran.”
While we are aware that the above letter has been partially withdrawn with the intervention of Ms. Gila Gamliel, the Intelligence Minister of Israel, we still need to address the issue and call it out to intercept potential future mishaps or misunderstandings in this regard.
CDI believes that what the undersigned Knesset members have formulated in their letter as supporting “the national aspirations of the peoples of south Azerbaijan [...] [and] if a sovereign state south Azerbaijan is created, Israel will get another ally in the region along with the Azerbaijan republic” is problematic in several lights:
- There is no “south” Azerbaijan in Iran. Considering “southern” Azerbaijan is falsely or intentionally implying a territorial independence from Iran, subsuming an attachment with the Azerbaijan republic and its jurisprudence that is technically outside the borderlines of Iran.
- Iran is made up of several ethnicities (including Azeris), distinct by their cultural and linguistic heritage, who have been an integral part of Iran (Persia) for thousands of years. Such cultural uniqueness, however, has never translated into separatist sentiments in the mind and mouth of Iran’s people of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Nor can it be envisaged to be the mentality behind our resistance against the murderous regime in Tehran. While we appreciate the way systematic discrimination against our fellow Azeri or other ethnicities in Iran is being called out internationally, no gesture, request, movement, or initiative that may push the narrative of separation and independence under the guise of international support is either appreciated or allowed.
- We understand how Israel can be an incontrovertible asset for the Iranian opposition to advance their anti-Islamic Regime initiatives. However, carving out a potential ally for Israel through separating a province of Iran and assuming its attachment to the Azerbaijan republic would erect the Iranian opposition against such pro-independence instigators. This would wound the ties between the opposition to the Islamic regime and the Israeli Knesset.
Mr. Prime Minister, CDI wholeheartedly supports any process that restores a partnership between the two countries of Iran and Israel and rekindles the historical friendship that has existed between our two peoples.
Respectfully,
Farrokh Zandi
Chair, CDI Board of Directors
CC: His Excellency Eli Cohen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, State of Israel