Iranian regime continues to oppress its minorities

On January 15, 2019 Abbas Lisani, an Azerbaijani activist in Iran, was arrested in Tabriz yet again. An outspoken critic of Iran’s oppressive policies against its ethnic Azerbaijani/Turkic minority, Lisani has had a long record of unjustified imprisoning for demanding basic cultural and political rights for Iran’s Azerbaijani community, yet his case remains largely overlooked by the international media and Western governments.

Lisani is being kept behind bars with no access to a public attorney or to members of his family. His rights are being conspicuously violated. According to some reports, Lisani has started a hunger strike and his health may soon deteriorate.

The United States should stand by Iran’s Azerbaijani Turkic minority and express its indignation about intolerance prevalent in Iran vis-avis its ethnic minority groups. — Thomas Anzabi, Yardley,

PA