The following article is a series of tweets by Perman Asadzade, a PhD Candidate in Political Science.
Thread: Sunnis in Iran
1. Scheherezade Faramarzi wrote a piece for the Atlantic Council on the Sunni population of Iran. It was extremely flawed so I decided to write a response. See my response here:https://t.co/peJHWm6PfN
Then she wrote another piece in response to me.— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018
3. The figure shows unemployment rate in the fall of 2017 with colors representing the percentage of Sunni population in each province (darker color means more Sunnis). Sunni majority provinces have 11.3 and 12.1 unemployment rates- close the national average (11.9 percent). pic.twitter.com/dvMNyq6LaH
— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018
4. This figure shows unemployment rate for 2017.
Provinces with highest unemployment rates:
Kermanshah (70 percent Shia)
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari (99.9 percent Shia)
Khuzestan (99.9 percent Shia)
Esfahan (99.9 percent Shia)
Data come from Iran's Statictical Center pic.twitter.com/SI3XNCDuFJ— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018
6. However, unemployment is not the best indicator to show whether there is discrimination against a social group. Also, data at the province level could be misleading as some of the provinces include both Sunnis and Shias. So, I looked at literacy rate within two provinces:
— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018
8. These figures compare Sunni-majority to Shia-majority counties. There is no meaningful distinction in the literacy rate of Shia-majority and Sunni-majority counties in West Azarbaijan. The same is true of Kermanshah. pic.twitter.com/xwjin6XOo5
— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018
10. First, I look at the distribution of oil and gas revenues in1396/2017 (government is obliged to allocate 3 percent of oil and gas revenues to provinces). Sistan and Baluchistan is way above average in receiving oil revenues. Kordestan is close to the average (slightly higher) pic.twitter.com/RTAb0UaZf7
— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018
11. Now let's look at the provincial share of national budget allocation. Most of the provinces with a considerable number of Sunnis are above average. Sistan comes second after Khuzestan. So, the claim, or better call it platitude, is entirely baseless. pic.twitter.com/m0rbGHIyw1
— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018
12. IR has failed to properly integrate its Sunni population into the political system by depriving them of higher political positions. However, there is no evidence to show that it systematically and intentionally favors Shia over Sunnis in its socio-economic policies.
— Peyman Asadzade (@PeymanAsadzade) May 2, 2018