Word: ahmadinejad
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...pictures of Ahmadinejad's supporters on LIFE.com...
...crisis. But because Iran sees Jundallah as having U.S. backing, the timing of the execution reinforces Tehran's narrative that foreigners are to blame for the postelection unrest. The executions are also a message to Iran's restive minority groups to stay out of the confrontation between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his opponents. (See pictures of violence to intimidate Iranians...
Although Persians are Iran's largest ethnic group, almost half of the population comprises Azeris, Kurds, Lors, Arabs, Turkomans, Baluchis and other minorities with longstanding grievances against the central government. During Ahmadinejad's first term, there has been an unusual upsurge of rioting, protests and bombings by minority groups targeting government officials and institutions, including an ambush on the President himself by Baluchis. While the minority groups blame government repression for the unrest, the government blames foreign agitators...
Iran's ethnic tensions were an issue during the presidential election campaign, not least because two of the key challengers to Ahmadinejad, Mehdi Karroubi (a Lor) and Mir-Hossein Mousavi (an Azeri) are from minority communities. The two campaigned in minority areas to an unprecedented degree, and their strong support at campaign events outside Tehran belies the government claim that opposition demonstrators represent an urban élite out of touch with the pro-Ahmadinejad countryside. But since the election, little has been heard from the provinces, besides reports of clashes in Iranian Kurdistan. The Western press has been restricted...
...pictures of Ahmadinejad's supporters on LIFE.com...