Iran International
Iran is a highly multilingual country, yet education in languages other than Persian is not permitted and its advocates often face persecution by security bodies for encouraging separatism.
This year, according to social media reports, activists in several northwestern cities, including Tabriz, Maragheh, and Ardabil, marked International Mother Language Day on February 21 by distributing children's books written in Torki on the streets. Torki is a Turkic language spoken by millions in the northwestern provinces of East and West Azarbaijan, Ardabil, and parts of Zanjan and other provinces.
Similarly, in some Kurdish cities, activists celebrated the occasion by distributing leaflets and posters to raise awareness of their cause.
The United Nations General Assembly designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day in 1999 to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism.
Iran is home to many ethnic groups, each with its own language, including Kurds, Torki, Gilaks, Baluchis, Arabs, and Turkmen. Torki, and Kurdish -- mostly spoken in western province -- have the largest number of speakers.
Children singing in Torki at a shopping mall in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan, on International Mother Language Day
There are no official statistics on the number of speakers of these or other languages, such as Arabic, which is spoken in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, or Balochi, spoken in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Many members of ethnic groups, specially in urban centers, speak Persian as all education, including textbooks, is in Persian.
The government often view the demand for education in native languages as linked to separatism and suppress its organized advocacy.
Persian has been the official language of most Iranian dynasties throughout the Islamic period, including the Safavid and Qajar dynasties, whose rulers were native speakers of Torki. It has also served as the country’s literary language and lingua franca.
Activists distributing posters and leaflets in the Kurdish city of Marivan on International Mother Language Day.
Before the establishment of a modern educational system in 1925 by Reza Shah, the founder of the Pahlavi Dynasty, literacy was largely restricted to the upper class and the clergy, who ran small schools called maktab to teach literacy. In 1936, maktabs were shut down, and primary education in new public schools became compulsory for all children.
Since then, Persian has remained the sole language of government, media and education in Iran, despite Article 15 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, which was drafted months after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
This article permits the use of ethnic languages in the press and media and allows for their literature to be taught alongside Persian in schools. However, the government has never implemented these provisions by incorporating ethnic languages into public education. Independent schools and language institutes are also barred from offering courses for other local languages.
While state-run provincial radio and television stations broadcast some programs in Kurdish, Torki, Arabic, Baluchi, and Turkmen, their content largely reflects the government’s Islamic ideology and propaganda.
Authorities frequently crack down on unofficial ethnic language classes conducted by volunteer “mother language” activists, particularly in Torki and Kurdish-speaking areas.
For example, on February 21, the Kurdish human rights group Kurdpa reported that seven activists had been arrested over the past year for promoting the teaching of the Kurdish language and were sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison.
Advocates for teaching ethnic languages argue that their cultures and languages are at risk due to the dominance of Persian in Iran’s educational system.
Critics, however, counter-argue that introducing education in non-Persian languages could weaken Persian’s role as the official language, threaten national unity by fueling sectarianism, complicate the education system, and increase its costs.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, a native speaker of both Torki and Kurdish, the languages spoken by his own parents, is one of the very few officials who has ever defended the right to giving official status to ethnic languages based on Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution.
He argued against critics, when he was a lawmaker, that using these languages in schools, contrary to their beliefs, could even strengthen national unity.
In the reports, people highlight the increasing pressure on their livelihoods, complaining about the lack of response to their protests and the absence of effective measures to control prices.
One viewer, sharing a video, said that they had purchased only a few kilograms of potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, and the cost of these three items had reached 7,000,000 rials, approximately one-seventeenth of the average monthly Iranian salary.
The simultaneous surge in prices and worsening economic hardship, along with leaked reports of the Islamic Republic's financial aid to its supporters in Lebanon, has drawn significant attention from Iranian citizens.
One Iran International viewer, referring to the high food prices, said in a video: "The Iranian government gives money to the Lebanese, but does not care about its own people."
On Tuesday, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, met in Tehran with leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who visited Tehran seeking financial assistance. Meanwhile, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been opening new branches of interest-free loan funds to distribute financial aid from the Islamic Republic.
Tehran has recently allocated more than $10,000 to each war-affected family in Lebanon to help cover rent and household expenses. This aid is distributed among Shiite Lebanese who are supporters of Hezbollah.
Naim Qassem, the newly appointed Secretary-General of Hezbollah, described the funds as a "gift from the Islamic Republic."
Inflation in Iran has reached an uncontrollable level, with the Iranian Statistics Center announcing that the country’s annual inflation rate for the 12 months leading up to February 2025 stands at 32%.
The Iranian currency, rial, has depreciated by more than 50% since September fueling annual inflation, which has hovered around 40% in the past five years.
Citizens hold the Islamic Republic and its policies responsible for their economic hardship and the rising cost of food and medicine.
Even Islamic Republic officials have acknowledged their inability to resolve the current crises.
President Masoud Pezeshkian referring to shortages in various sectors—including energy, which the government labels as imbalances—said:
"Do you think I have a magic box? No. Six months ago, I was walking in Parliament, and now I am the President."
Speaking at a meeting with officials in western Tehran on Thursday, Pezeshkian added:
"Everywhere we look, there is an imbalance—in water, electricity, gas, money, land, schools, and hospital beds. Demand is unlimited, and our capacity is limited."
Meanwhile, on Friday, Mohammad Jamalian, a member of Parliament’s Health Committee, said:
"Currently, 350 to 400 types of medicine are in short supply, and in the best-case scenario, such shortages will worsen within the next one to two months."
Over the past two decades, Valentine’s Day has grown increasingly popular in Iran, frustrating authorities who have spent nearly half a century trying to Islamicize society and shield young people from Western cultural influences.
In 2010, Iran’s police and judicial authorities condemned Valentine’s Day celebrations as part of a “Western cultural onslaught”, imposing a ban on businesses selling Valentine’s Day gifts and decorations.
Since then, police have occasionally cracked down on shops selling gifts and cafés hosting Valentine’s celebrations, where young people gather with red balloons, roses, teddy bears, and other tokens of affection. Despite these efforts, Valentine’s Day has continued to gain popularity, even spreading to religious cities such as Qom and Mashhad, home to two of Shiism’s most important shrines and seminaries.
A call to revive Sepandarmazgan
Beyond government opposition, some Iranians also criticize the growing influence of Western holidays, advocating for the revival of ancient Iranian festivals instead. They argue that Sepandarmazgan, or Espandgan for short, offers a more culturally authentic alternative to Valentine’s Day.
Falling on February 23 this year, Sepandarmazgan is dedicated to Sepandarmaz (Holy Devotion), one of the seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian creator god.
In ancient Iranian tradition, Sepandarmaz was revered as a feminine divine force linked to the Earth and women, symbolizing fertility and prosperity. Unlike Anahita—an earlier goddess of love, fertility, and water whose worship was later absorbed into Zoroastrianism—Sepandarmaz was never portrayed in human form in ancient artifacts.
Sending text messages and giving gifts to loved ones on Espandgan instead of Valentine's Day has been gaining popularity in recent years.
According to a recent article published by the Student News Network, a hardline news outlet, presenting Espandgan as an alternative to Valentine’s Day fails to prevent the spread of Western cultural values. Instead, it merely repackages the same concepts in a form that contradicts the Islamic way of life.
Espandgan in history and modern Zoroastrianism
Iran’s Zoroastrian community, though now small, continues to celebrate Espandgan with solemn religious rituals and prayers, including recitations from the Avesta—their holy book—at fire temples and sacred shrines, such as Pir-e Sabz in Yazd.
According to the 11th-century historian Al-Biruni, however, Espandgan was widely observed in parts of Iran as a day honoring women. On this occasion, women were exempt from housework, and men showered their wives with gifts. Additionally, women freely expressed their love to the men they wished to marry, a tradition that resonates with modern romantic celebrations.
Government opposition to pre-Islamic traditions
Despite the historical significance of Espandgan, Iran’s religious and political establishment remains resistant to promoting pre-Islamic festivals as substitutes for Western celebrations like Valentine’s Day and Christmas—both of which remain widely celebrated despite official disapproval.
In recent years the celebration of Christmas has also become very popular in Iran.
Beyond Valentine's Day, the hardline religious and political establishment also opposes other ancient festivals including the Winter Solstice festival of Yalda (or Shab-e Chelleh) which marks the longest night of the year, and Charshanbeh Soori, a bonfire festival held on the evening of the last Tuesday before the Iranian New Year (Nowrouz) as relics of paganism.
Charshanbeh Soori often turns into a battle between the merry-making youth who celebrate it on the streets and the police, Basij militia of the Revolutionary Guards, and vigilante groups who crack down on them in larger cities such as Tehran.
In an attempt to counter pre-Islamic traditions and calendar events, authorities have sought to elevate Islamic occasions, designating the birthday of Fatima, daughter of Prophet Muhammad, as Women’s Day. The birthday of Imam Ali, the first Shiite Imam, has similarly been designated as Men’s Day while the anniversary of Fatima and Ali’s marriage has been added to the official calendar as Marriage Day.