Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article focuses on the politics of Khuzestan Province
Khuzestan Province
Khuzestan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq's Basra Province and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahwaz and covers an area of 63,238 km²...

, a petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

-rich and ethnically diverse province of southwestern Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

Background

Khuzestan is ethnically diverse , home to a number of distinct peoples and tribal groups. This has a bearing on Khuzestan's electoral politics, with ethnic minority rights playing a significant role in the province's political culture. The province's geographical location bordering Iraq and its oil resources also make it a politically sensitive region, particularly given its history of foreign intervention, notably the Iraqi invasion of 1980. At the same time, there are ethnic grievances among the province's population, mostly from some Arab groups. . The Arab population has established itself in Khuzestan mainly through the last 5 centuries of migration from neighbouring regions of Iraq well after the establishment of Iranic elements in the region.
Some Arab groups complain over the distribution of the revenue generated by oil resources with claims that the central government is failing to invest profits from the oil industry in employment generation, post-war reconstruction and welfare projects. Low human development indicators among local Khuzestanis are contrasted with the wealth generation of the local oil industry. Minority rights are frequently identified with strategic concerns, with ethnic unrest perceived by the Iranian government as being generated by foreign governments to undermine the country's oil industry and its internal stability. The politics of Khuzestan therefore have international significance and go beyond the realm of electoral politics.

According to Jane's Information Group

Jane's Information Group

Jane's Information Group is a publishing company specializing in transportation and military topics.-History:It was founded by Fred T...

, "Most Iranian Arabs seek their constitutionally guaranteed rights and do not have a separatist agenda ... While it may be true that some Arab activists are separatists, most see themselves as Iranians first and declare their commitment to the state's territorial integrity."

Prominent Khuzestani politicians

Khuzestan has produced many prominent politicians. Iran's current Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Reza Eskandari

Mohammad Reza Eskandari

Mohammad Reza Eskandari was the Minister of Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2005 to 2009.-External links:*...

, Mohsen Rezaee

Mohsen Rezaee

Mohsen Rezaee Mirgha'ed, also spelled Rezai and Rezaie , born Sabzevar Rezaee Mirgha'ed , is an Iranian politician, economist and former military commander, currently the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran...

(secretary of Iran's powerful Expediency Discernment Council

Expediency Discernment Council

The Expediency Discernment Council of the System is an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 6 February 1988...

) and some parliamentary committee chairs have been from Khuzestan.

Ali Shamkhani

Ali Shamkhani

Ali Shamkhani is an Iranian admiral and politician. He was the Minister of Defense from August 19, 1997 until August 24, 2005 and was replaced by Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar.He is born in 1955 in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, he earned a B.S...

, an Arab from Ahvaz

Ahvaz

-History:For a more comprehensive historical treatment of the area, see the history section of Khūzestān Province.-Ancient history:Ahvaz is the anagram of "Avaz" and "Avaja" which appear in Darius's epigraph...

, held Iran's sensitive top military post of Minister of Defense from 1997 to 2005, in President Khatami's government.

The Iraqi-born Ayatollah Mohsen Araki

Mohsen Araki

Ayatollah Sheikh Mohsen Araki is an Iranian scholar, cleric, university lecturer, and politician. He is a former member of the Assembly of Experts in Iran, and a prominent Iranian cleric and one of the students of the Islamic thinker Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr.-Life:He was born in...

served as a Khuzestan representative in the Assembly of Experts, was the personal representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (the Supreme Leader of Iran) in London and headed the Islamic Centre of England

Islamic Centre of England

The Islamic Centre of England Ltd is a religious and cultural building at 140 Maida Vale, London. It was established in 1996 by Ayatollah Mohsen Araki to cater for the cultural, social and emotional needs of the Iranian community living outside of Iran.-General information:Since its establishment...

until 2004.

Local grievances

Endemic poverty in Khuzestan is contrasted with the wealth generated by the province, particularly from oil, petrochemicals and agriculture. This poverty, however, is a fact of life throughout Iran for all ethnic groups.

The CIA World Factbook estimates that approximately 1% of Iran's 68,017,860 citizens are Arabic-speakers, of whom the majority live in Khuzestan, with 1% speaking Arabic as their native or primary language. Articles 15, 19 and 48 of the Iranian Constitution establish the basis for ethnic, linguistic and cultural minority rights in the fields of education, employment and the distribution of resources. However, human rights groups have claimed that Iranian minorities often face discrimination and estrictions on social, cultural, linguistic and religious freedoms (see Ethnic minorities in Iran
Ethnic minorities in Iran
This article focuses on ethnic minorities in Iran and their related political issues.-Overview:Iran is an ethnically diverse country, and interethnic relations are generally amicable. Persians form the majority of the population...

). Minority issues are therefore a major feature of political debate in Khuzestan.

Human rights

Khuzestan has been a focus of criticism by human rights groups. Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

routinely raises human rights concerns relating to Khuzestani Arabs through linking with separatists websites who provide information, in particular the arrest and detention of political activists, torture and executions. While Khuzestan is not unique in terms of its human rights record, Amnesty notes that often these abuses are related to institutional discrimination. In its report entitled New government fails to address dire human rights situation published in February 2006, Amnesty states:
In 1997, Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

reported that "Iranian Arabs, an ethnic minority centered in southwest Iran

Iran

, have cited significant restrictions on their language and culture, and on their right to participate effectively in decisions affecting the area in which they live." According to another report in the same year, "Arabic is not taught in elementary schools, and the Arabic teaching in secondary schools focuses exclusively on religious texts. The governor of Khuzestan is not an Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

" while "Arabs make up 35-45 percent of the three million inhabitants of Khuzestan province in the southwest of Iran." In 2005, separatist groups claimed that there was "inadequate attention to their culture and language by state media, facing discrimination in getting jobs, unfair distribution of Khuzestan's oil wealth."

Joe Stork, the director of HRW's Middle East division, said: "The Iranian authorities have again displayed their readiness to silence those who denounce human rights violations. We have serious allegations the government used excessive lethal force, arbitrary arrests and torture in Khuzistan."

The claims made by human rights groups have been strongly contested by the Iranian government, which claims that efforts to disproportionately accentuate the problems in Khuzestan are being led by foreign media or political groups, particularly those based in the UK. The governor's office of Khuzestan claims the provincial GDP to rank 3rd in the nation, yet to what extent the local population benefits from these fruits remains unclear.

Contrary to the arguments put forward by human rights groups, Arabic is taught in all public schools throughout the country as a mandatory subject. This despite the fact that 97%-98% of Iranians are not ethnically Arabic speakers

It is also contended that the rights of Iranian groups of Khuzestan, such as the nomadic Bakhtiari and Lur tribes, are often overlooked due to the publicity surrounding Khuzestani Arabs.

Alleged forced displacement

The problem was highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, following a visit to Khuzestan in July 2005. He claimed that industrial and agricultural development projects had displaced Arabs from their land, who received compensation that amounted to a fraction of the market value. He also claimed that new housing developments, such as the one new town in Shirinshah, were being created for non-Arab workers brought in from Yazd

Yazd

Yazd is the capital of Yazd Province in Iran, and a centre of Zoroastrian culture. The city is located some 175 miles southeast of Isfahan. At the 2006 census, the population was 423,006, in 114,716 families....

, while local people continued to suffer joblessness and poor housing.

Kothari also drew attention to the situation facing the Laks

Lak people (Iran)

The Laks are an Iranian group in southwestern Iran. They speak Laki , a Northwestern Iranian language, that is usually grouped with Southern Kurdish dialects...

, who are an Iranian people

Iranian peoples

The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...

indigenous to Khuzestan. He called them "... a very deprived group ... living in conditions of high density, again without access to adequate sanitation and water. And just nearby, you see other neighbourhoods with much better services."

Kothari's description of the position of the Laks suggests that economic marginalisation in Khuzestan is not only experienced by Khuzestani Arabs, but also other ethnic groups who are indigenous to the area.

Kothari's findings led to condemnation of forced displacement of Khuzestani Arabs in a European Parliament resolution, passed in October 2005. The resolution, sponsored by all the European Parliament's political groups,
The European Parliament unanimously passed a resolution in November 2006 which repeated its condemnation of forced displacement in Khuzestan, based on Kothari's findings.

Place names

Many of the towns and cities in Khuzestan had Arabic or local names in Arab rulers era, which have since been changed. Some Khuzestani Arabs contend that the change of place names is intended to wipe out the local Arab heritage and Persianize the province. The most controversial name changes include the renaming of Mohammarah to Khorramshahr

Khorramshahr

Khorramshahr is a city in and the capital of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 123,866, in 26,385 families.Khorramshahr is a port city located approximately north of Abadan...

and Khafajiah to Susangard. However, some of these names have their origins in pre-Islamic Khuzestan. For example, Andimeshk

Andimeshk

Andimeshk is a city in and the capital of Andimeshk County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 119,422, in 26,140 families....

is the name of medieval Dezful

Dezful

Dezful is a city in and the capital of Dezful County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 228,507, in 55,711 families.The city houses a bridge that dates back to 300 BC.In 2006, the city had 235,819 inhabitants.-History:...

.(Encyclopædia Iranica
Encyclopædia Iranica
Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times...

, p26) As for the Persian name of the Shatt al-Arab, Arvandrud, though such a name appears in the Shahnama, it refers more properly to the River Tigris. Referring to it as Arvandrud was intended by the late Shah of Iran to legitimize Iran's claim to the use of the waterway for navigation.

Religious minorities

Although the majority of the population of Khuzestan is Shia, there are other religious groups in the province. The 5-10,000 Mandeans, a unique religious group that is neither Muslim nor Christian, living in Khuzestan claim to have second-class status due to both Arabisation and Persianisation. Their places of worship have reportedly been closed down and their cemetories. However, they lack any support group to lobby on their behalf and their plight is often over-looked by human rights organisations. Their small numbers also mean they are politically marginalised.

Foreign influence

Some Iranian opposition parties operating abroad launched a campaign to stop the American Enterprise Institute

American Enterprise Institute

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...

hosting a conference entitled "The Unknown Iran: Another Case for Federalism?" in October 2005. A petition to stop the event attracted more than 1,000 signatures from members of the Iranian diaspora. Some added that the meeting indicated a new alliance between US neo-conservatives and Iranian separatists, ahead of a possible invasion of Iran by the US and its allies. Dr Ali Al-Taie, a member of the Democratic Solidarity Party of Ahwaz which upholds a federalist agenda for Iran, said at the debate: "When it comes to ethnic rights, Persian opposition groups are on the same side as the terrorist Islamic Republic. If this continues, we will see the Balkanization

Balkanization

Balkanization, or Balkanisation, is a geopolitical term, originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other, and it is considered pejorative.The term refers to the...

of Iran." But he added that: "Despite the long history of persecution, the Arabs of Khuzestan/al-Ahwaz are Iranian. There will never be, nor should there be, disintegration or separatism in Iran. Rather, all Iranian people, regardless of their ethnic background, should live under a pluralistic, tolerant, and federal society."

Arab politics and separatism

There are a number of Iranian Arab political parties operating in exile, but no known political party representing other ethnic groups in Khuzestan. The ideology of Arab parties varies, although most are secular in their political outlook. Ideology, tactics, tribal loyalties and personal ambition have prevented these parties from forming a united front. Some advocate armed resistance, while others believe in non-violent action. Most refer to the entire province of Khuzestan as al-Ahwaz (which only refers to a region in the southwest portion) or Arabistan, although some define Arabistan as also including territory along the Persian Gulf coast to the Strait of Hormuz

Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman....

. Whether these views are popular or even accepted amongst most Iranian Arabs is uncertain. Khuzestan's deputy governor Rahim Fazilatpur claimed that the Arab Martyrs of Khuzestan, the Al-Ahwaz Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front (AADPF) and the Ahwaz Arab Renaissance Party (AARP) were given support by the British and US governments to carry out the bomb attacks of June 2005

Ahvaz Bombings

The Ahvaz bombings were a series of bomb explosions, that took place mostly in Ahvaz, Iran in 2005-2006, and were blamed on Ahvaz separatist organizations of Sunni Arabs. The bombings were linked to the violent April 15 unrest in Ahvaz, prior to the bombings...

.
The Arab political parties are divided into two camps: those seeking a separate state and those seeking regional autonomy within a federal Iran. Critics of these parties claim that separatism has no support among Arabs, pointing to the decision by many Iranian Arabs to defend Iran during the Iran–Iraq War. The support shown by Iranian Arabs may have been a result of the knowledge of Shiite Muslims in Saddam's Iraq. They also contend that separatism has always been instigated by foreign governments – particularly the British – to weaken Iran in order to control the country's natural resources and extend their influence over the Middle East. Many make no distinction between separatists and federalists, claiming that those seeking federalism have a separatist agenda and that the devolution of power to regional ethnic groups would lead to the break-up of Iran.

Islamic Reconciliation Party

The Islamic Reconciliation Party (Hezb al-Wefagh), also known as the Reconciliation Committee (Lejnat al-Wefagh), was the only known Arab group to have been tolerated by the Iranian government. Jasem Shadidzadeh Al-Tamimi was the party's secretary general. He was a member of the Sixth Majlis (2000–04), representing Ahwaz as a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front

Islamic Iran Participation Front

The Islamic Iran Participation Front is a reformist political party in Iran...

, but was barred from standing for election in 2004. Following the unrest in Khuzestan in April 2005, Al-Tamimi wrote to the then President Khotami calling on him to remove the "wall of mistrust between the proud Iranian ethnicities, so that the infected wounds of the Arab people of Ahwaz may heal." He added that "our wishful thinking about reforms in Arab affairs by the Reformists has been only a mirage", indicating that he no longer had faith in the Participation Front. He listed a number of grievances, including:

violence against Arab demonstrators by security forces
land confiscation
the destruction of Arab residential compounds
the high level of drug abuse among Iranian Arabs, which he claims is rooted in poverty
racial discrimination and the official view of Arabs as a security threat
the government's failure to issue activity permits for the Islamic Wefagh Party and affiliated non-governmental organisations

He indicates that he opposes separatism and the ideology of "extreme Persian nationalism" he associates with the previous monarchist government. The Islamic Wefagh Party claims to have an "extensive" base of support in Khuzestan. The group was banned in November 2006 and labelled a "subversive organisation trying to unseat the current system by spreading racial hatred and provoking ethnic clashes." At the same time, three of its leading members were arrested.

Al-Ahwaz Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front

The Al-Ahwaz Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front (AADPF) is based in London and is led by Mahmud Ahmad Al-Ahwazi, aka Abu Bashar. The group calls for human rights and democracy for Iranian Arabs and believes that Al-Ahwaz was occupied by Iran in 1925. The ADPF has a number of activists in Iranian custody. Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani

Ali Shamkhani

, the Minster of Defense and Logistic Affairs of the Armed Forces, accused Mahmud Ahmad Al-Ahwazi of involvement in the April 2005 unrest

2005 Ahwazi unrest

2005 Ahvaz unrest or April 15 Ahvaz Protests were violent riots, initiated by Iranian Arabs in the city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan. The unrest erupted on April 15, 2005, and lasted for 4 days...

, while simultaneously claiming that his group had "zero popularity" amongst Arabs in Khuzestan. The ADPF has also claimed it led what it calls an "intifada

Uprising

-In music:* Uprising * Uprising , album by Concord Dawn* Uprising , album by Entombed* Uprising , album by Universal Poplab...

" in Khuzestan. Shamkhani also claimed that Mahmud Ahmad Al-Ahwazi was a former member of the
SAVAK

SAVAK

SAVAK was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service established by Iran's Mohammad Reza Shah on the recommendation of the British Government and with the help of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency SAVAK (Persian: ساواک, short for سازمان اطلاعات و امنیت کشور...

(the Shah's secret police) before the revolution who defected to Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War. It is not known how much, if any, of Shamkhani's claims are true.

Ahwaz Arab Renaissance Party

The AARP is another separatist group advocating armed resistance to the Iranian government. It was originally set up in the 1990s by the Syrian government, but has since moved its leadership to Canada. In April 2005, it claimed on a pro-Iraqi Ba'athist website that it had exploded a bomb on the Ahwaz-Tehran pipeline. It also claimed responsibility for the June 2005 bombings in Ahwaz City

Ahvaz Bombings

. Two other groups also separately claimed responsibility for the attacks

Ahvaz Bombings

. It is led by Sabah al-Musawi, a Canadian resident.

Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz

The Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz (DSPA), based in the US and the UK,claiming to represent the Iranian Arabs of Khuzestan. The DSPA's ideology is different from the separatists in that it explicitly rejects the use of violence and advocates what it calls "internal self-determination". It also limits its territorial focus on Khuzestan, making no stand on Arab-populated living outside the province.

The DSPA claims that Khuzestan has a historical Arab identity and this means that the province should be given autonomy within a federal political system, but it says it respects Iran's territorial integrity. To achieve its ends, it has formed a coalition with like-minded parties representing Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, Turkmen, Bakhtiaris and Lurs, some of which have been in armed conflict with the Iranian state. Formed in London in March 2005, the Congress of Iranian Nationalities for a Federal Iran (CINFI) brought together the DSPA, the Baluchistan United Front, Federal Democratic Movement of Azarbaijan, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, Baluchistan People's Party, Organization for Defense of the Rights of Turkmen People and Komalah

Komalah

Komala or Komalah is a Kurdish political party in Iran . The word Komele in Kurdish is derived from Komel and means "association".-Political background:...

, a militant Kurdish opposition party.

Ahwaz Liberation Organisation

The Ahwaz Liberation Organisation (ALO), based in Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

in the Netherlands, was formed out of the remnants of three Iraqi-backed groups – the Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan (DRFLA), People's Front for Liberation of Arabistan (PFLA) and the Arab Front for the Liberation of Al-Ahwaz (AFLA). It is a secular pan-Arabist group seeking independence from Iran. The DRFLA was the most notorious, having been sponsored by Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

.

It was founded after the newly-installed Islamic government fired on Arab demonstrators in Khorramshahr, killing many of them. The DRFLA was behind the May 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege

Iranian Embassy Siege

The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London. The gunmen took 26 people hostage—mostly embassy staff, but several visitors and a police officer, who had been guarding the embassy, were also...

in London, taking a number of hostages in an effort to draw attention to its demands for the self-determination of the Arab population of Khuzestan. The British Special Air Service

Special Air Service

Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...

(SAS) stormed the building and freed the hostages.Fowzi Badavi Nejad,the only survivor of that group,had survived only because some of the embassy hostages had put themselves between him and the SAS soldiers.Some evidences indicated the Iraqi intelligence services had duped Nejad into taking part in the siege. The evidence showed that once he knew the true nature of the group's plans, he only continued because he feared that his family, who had fled from Iran to Iraq, would suffer if he tried to withdraw the last hostage.

The ALO's constituent groups operated as a mercenary force on behalf of Saddam's regime during the Iran–Iraq War, carrying out assassinations and attacking oil facilities. Bomb attacks on oil and power facilities have continued since the end of the Iraq War, although the ALO has not formally claimed responsibility. The ALO's leader, the self-styled "President of Al-Ahwaz" Faleh Abdallah Al-Mansouri, was living in exile in the Netherlands since 1989, shortly after the end of the Iran–Iraq War, gaining Dutch nationality. He declared himself to be the "President" of Al-Ahwaz, which he claims extends beyond Khuzestan, including much of the coast of Iran. However, during a visit to Syria in May 2006, he was arrested in Syria in May 2006 along with Iranian Arabs who were registered as refugees by the UNHCR. Although the Iranian government did not name the men who were taken into custody, officials said that the men arrested in Syria were Salafi

Salafi

A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...

sts who they accused of involvement in bomb attacks. However, the ALO's website makes no indication that it is motivated by a religious cause, but rather has stayed within the ideology of secular Arab nationalism.

Newspapers

The editor of Ahvaz's Persian language Hamsayeha newspaper, Mohammad Hezbawi (also known as Hezbaee Zadeh), was arrested in September 2005 but later released. The newspaper was banned by the Justice Department in February 2006 under clauses four and five of Article 6 of Iran's Press law.

Television

Television broadcasting in Arabic language in Khuzestan is state-owned (e.g. Al Alam) as is the case in other parts of the country, but many inhabitants also watch foreign Arabic language satellite channels. The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel was blamed by the Iranian government for its coverage of anti-government protests by Arabs

2005 Ahwazi unrest

in April 2005. It was also angered by Al-Jazeera's interview with a member of the separatist Al-Ahwaz Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front (ADPF) who spoke of "80 years of Iranian occupation in Khuzestan". The International Federation of Journalists claimed the government was scapegoating the media for civil unrest in the province.

In recent years, Iranian Arab groups have attempted to broadcast to Khuzestan. However, their attempts have been frustrated partly due to satellite dish confiscation in Khuzestan. Different political factions have run short weekly or daily television broadcasts to Iran, but these have closed down.

Election results

Khuzestan has tended to elect reformists to power, particularly those campaigning on a pro-minorities platform. However, bomb attacks

Ahvaz Bombings

in the region have led to a polarisation of opinion, with some Khuzestan representatives such as Ahwaz City representative Nasser Soudani calling for hardline measures against Arab dissent, which the government believes is being encouraged by British spies.

Presidential elections

Summary of the 17 June 2005 Iranian Presidential election results for Khuzestan province compared with the national election results
Iranian presidential election, 2005
Iran's ninth presidential election took place in two rounds, the first on June 17, 2005, the run-off on June 24. Mohammad Khatami, the previous President of Iran, stepped down on August 2, 2005, after serving his maximum two consecutive four-year terms according to the Islamic Republic's constitution...
Candidates	Votes Khuzestan	% of votes Khuzestan	Votes Nationally	% of votes nationally
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is an influential Iranian politician and writer, who was the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until his resignation in 2011...	319,883	20.50	6,211,937	21.13
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad	224,427	14.40	5,711,696	19.43
Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi is an influential Iranian reformist politician, democracy activist, mojtahed, and chairman of the National Trust Party. He was Chairman of the parliament from 1989 to 1992 and 2000 to 2004, and a presidential candidate in the 2005 and 2009 presidential elections.He is a founding...	539,158	34.50	5,070,114	17.24
Mostafa Moeen Mostafa Moeen Mostafa Moeen, M.D. , is an Iranian politician and professor of Pediatrics, and an advisor to the former President Mohammad Khatami. He was a presidential candidate for the 2005 Iranian presidential election...	148,375	9.50	4,095,827	13.93
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf is the current Mayor of Tehran, Iran.-Early life and military career:Ghalibaf was born to a Khorasani Kurdish father and a Persian mother. At the age of nineteen, he was one of the commanders of the defense forces during the Iran–Iraq War...	148,207	9.50	4,083,951	13.89
Ali Larijani Ali Larijani Ali Ardashir Larijani is an Iranian philosopher, politician and the chairman of the Iranian parliament. Larijani was the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from August 15, 2005 to October 20, 2007, appointed to the position by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,replacing Hassan Rowhani...	58,554	3.70	1,713,810	5.83
Mohsen Mehralizadeh Mohsen Mehralizadeh Mohsen Mehralizadeh was a Vice President of Iran and the head of the National Sports Organization of Iran under President Khatami...	20,253	1.30	1,288,640	4.38
Total (national turnout 62.66%, Khuzestan turnout 56%)	1,563,000	100	29,400,857	100

In the first round of the presidential election, Khuzestani voters favoured reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who is a strong critic of the Guardian Council

Guardian Council

The Guardian Council of the Constitution , also known as the Guardian Council or Council of Guardians, is an appointed and constitutionally-mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran....

, who only achieved third place nationally. Karroubi's share of the vote in Khuzestan was twice the national average. Former president Rafsanjani came second in Khuzestan, although he achieved the highest number of votes nationally, followed by conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was the overall winner of the second round of the presidential election.

Elections to Parliament

Shabib Jouijari won a by-election for the Ahvaz parliamentary seat in December 2006, with 17.9% of the 406,808 votes cast.

Elections to the Assembly of Experts

Khuzestan has six directly elected representatives in the 86-member Assembly of Experts

Assembly of Experts

The Assembly of Experts of Iran , also translated as Council of Experts, is a deliberative body of 86 Mujtahids that is charged with electing and removing the Supreme Leader of Iran and supervising his activities.Members of the assembly are elected from a government-screened list of candidates by...

, which is normally elected every eight years and has the power the select and supervise the Supreme Leader. The most recent elections were held in December 2006, with members appointed for 10 year terms

Summary of the December 2006 Iranian Assembly of Experts election results for Khuzestan province

Representative	Votes	% of electorate
Sayad Mohammad Ali Mosawi*	640,943	40.6
Abbas Ka'abi Nasab*	498,218	31.6
Sayad Ali Shafiee*	457,399	29.0
Ali Falahian*	386,767	24.5
Mohammed Hussein Ahmadi	349,825	22.2
Mohsen Haydari al-Kasiri	332,601	21.1
Total (Khuzestan turnout 54%)	1,578,237	n/a
Note: percentages do not add up to 100% as voters are given more than one vote
* = members who have been re-elected

Municipal elections

Summary of the December 2006 Ahwaz City Municipal Council election results
Representative	Votes
Dariush Mombaini	48,629
Arezo Bababi	36,561
Qasem Jamadi	35,471
Sayed Mehdi Albu Shokeh	32,293
Sayed Reza Falahi Moghadam	32,176
Skander Zanganeh	27,897
Ramadan Monjezi	26,733
Sayed Mohammed Hassan Zadeh	26,269
Gholam Reza Sabze Ali	3,588
Total turn-out	226,709

The 2006 Ahwaz City elections were won by reformist and conservative candidates. The previous elections to the municipality were won by the Reconciliation Committee (Lejnat Al-Wefaq), which won all but one of the seats. It appealed to the city's Arab population and their grievances. However, it was barred from registering and was outlawed by the government, which alleged that it was a threat to national security. Candidates for the 2006 elections were subject to a heavy vetting procedure before they were allowed to stand.

Notations

Tarikh-e Pahnsad Saal-e Khuzestan (Five Hundred Year History of Khuzestan) by Ahmad Kasravi
Ahmad Kasravi
Ahmad Kasravi , was a notable Iranian linguist, historian, and reformer.Born in Hokmabad , Tabriz, Iran, Kasravi was an Iranian Azeri Initially, Kasravi enrolled in a seminary. Later, he joined the Iranian Constitutional Revolution...
Jang-e Iran va Britannia dar Muhammereh (The Iran-British War in Muhammereh) by Ahmad Kasravi
Tarikh-e Bist Saal-e Iran (Twenty Year History of Iran) by Hossein Maki (Tehran, 1945–47)
Hayat-e Yahya (The Life of Yahya) by Yahya Dolatabadi (Tehran, 1948–52)
Tarikh-e Ejtemai va Edari Doreieh Qajarieh (The Administrative and Social History of the Qajar Era) by Abdollah Mostofi (Tehran, 1945–49) ISBN 1-56859-041-5 (for the English translation)
Mosha'sha'iyan, by Muhammad Ali Ranjbar. ISBN 964-329-068-9

External links

Democracy, Ethnicity and Repression in Iran: The Plight of the Ahwazi Arabs – by Daniel Brett, Henry Jackson Society
Domestic Threats to Iranian Stability: Khuzistan and Baluchistan by Michael Rubin, JCPA Jerusalem Issue Brief
New government fails to address dire human rights situation – Amnesty International report
Election report from Khuzestan
Amnesty International Maastricht: "We want to see Al-Mansouri", by Danya Chaikel, Crossroads, 8 December 2006
Khuzestan: The First Front in the War on Iran? by Zoltan Grossman

Arab political groups

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