TEHRAN'S STRENGTH AND TEHRAN: 1/4: Iran is More Than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran Hardcover – by Brenda Shaffer
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 31 December 2023
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
https://www.amazon.com/Iran-More-Than-Persia-Politics/dp/311079621
Iran is More than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran analyses Iranian politics from a unique perspective, one that focuses on the relations between the Persian-dominated Iranian state and the country's ethnic minorities. The book explores the stability of the ruling regime in light of the challenges that multiethnicity brings.
Persians comprise less than half of the population of Iran and more than 40 percent of Iranians lack fluency in the Persian language. An overwhelming majority of non-Persian groups inhabit most of Iran's border regions; as such the book explores Iran's foreign policy toward neighboring states that share co-ethnic populations. Iran's ethnic minorities inhabit the state's poorest provinces and the country's growing environmental and water supply challenges hit the ethnic minority provinces harder than the Persian center, adding an ominous ethnic character to what are often presented as purely environmental or economic challenges. The book further examines the potential impact of ethnic based unrest in Khuzestan on Iran's oil production, Iran's main oil producing region.
Drawing on a rich assortment of primary data and interviews, this book offers unparalled insights into ethnic politics in Iran. It will be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates, researchers and professionals interested in the Middle East, international relations, and ethnic studies.
1840 TABRIZ PERSIA
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is |
| 0:05.0 | is CBS Eye on the World. |
| 0:08.0 | Here's John Bachelor. |
| 0:10.0 | Iran is more than Persia. A new book from Professor Brenda Schaefer of the Foundation for |
| 0:17.0 | the Defense of Democracy's Ethnic Politics in Iran. Iran is a bad actor, part of the axis that is now attacking Ukraine. |
| 0:28.0 | However, Iran is a state that emerges from the 20th century here in the 21st century with much paradox and |
| 0:38.9 | Professor Schaefer's book introduces us to some aspects of those paradoxes. |
| 0:45.0 | Brenda, a very good evening to thank you for this. |
| 0:48.0 | Persianness and the Farsi language are presumed this far away from Iran to be the language of the whole |
| 0:56.8 | country and the culture of the whole country. |
| 1:00.2 | Your book makes it very quickly obvious that that is not the case, that the Persianness is perhaps |
| 1:07.1 | 50%, but the languages are as United Nations as we could ask. |
| 1:13.8 | The ethnic minorities, each of them have distinct profiles. |
| 1:18.7 | They come from far away. |
| 1:21.8 | Some have different religions than Shias, some have the religions of the area. |
| 1:26.7 | All of this is in play all the time in Iran. |
| 1:30.2 | So I want to begin with the largest of the ethnic minorities, the Azerbaijani's, the Azare's. |
| 1:37.0 | They are associated with the northwest of Iran. |
| 1:40.6 | Who are the Azerbaijani Iranians today and how do they think of themselves? |
| 1:45.1 | Good evening to you. |
| 1:46.1 | Good evening, John. |
| 1:47.7 | You know, we use the terms Iran and Persia interchangeably for, you know, for a couple hundred years. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.