Baloch Leader Calls for Boycott of Iranian Presidential Elections

LONDON: In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Hyrbyair Marri, a prominent Baloch leader and founding president of the Free Balochistan Movement condemned the Iranian occupation of Balochistan and called for a boycott of the upcoming Iranian elections.

Expressing his views on the Persian-Baloch conflict, rejecting the notion that it is solely a Shia-Sunni issue, Hyrbyair Marri, emphasized that it is fundamentally a matter of two nations, with Persians ruling over Balochistan and other occupied territories.

‘The world sees the Persian-Baloch conflict as a Shia-Sunni problem. Rather, it’s a two-nation problem,’ he tweeted.

He also highlighted the occupation of Al-Ahwaz, an Arab region, to illustrate his point that Persian expansionism extends beyond religious boundaries.

“Ahwazi Arabs who are Shia as well, but they too are being persecuted and lynched every day just like Baloch and Kurdish people. It is one nation forcibly usurping another nation, subjugating it and trying to control it.”

In another Tweet, Marri said that the ongoing persecution and suppression of Baloch, Kurdish, and Arab populations under Iranian rule was evidence of annexation and annihilation of ethnic identities.

“This is not a sectarian conflict; this is the annexation and annihilation of other nationalities. We the Baloch, from all occupied lands, should unite and struggle against these occupiers together. Only then we’ll get our freedom.”

Marri urged the Baloch people to boycott the upcoming Iranian Presidential elections as a demonstration of unified opposition to the Iranian regime.

‘We should boycott Persian elections, which will show them and the world that we, the Baloch, are united against occupation. I urge no participation in Iranian voting, that would clearly show their theocratic regime and monarchist oppressors that we don’t accept them on our land.’ Marri tweeted, using hashtags such as #BoycottIranianShamElections and #BalochistanIsNotIran to amplify his message.

Marri concluded his series of tweets by affirming the Baloch identity and their determination to resist Iranian rule. ‘We are not Persians and we will fight back against their occupation and oppressive system’.

Separately, the Free Balochistan Movement in a statement to the media said that abstaining from any participation in the upcoming Iranian presidential elections was a silent protest against the occupation of Balochistan.

According to the FBM statement, by boycotting the election process, the Baloch nation aims to convey to the world its desire for freedom and independence from Iran’s oppressive rule. This act also serves to highlight that Balochistan remains under forced occupation by Iran and dispels any notion of a mutually beneficial relationship.