Persian Safavid government was not satisfied with stealing the place, occupying the strategic Arab geographic spot on the northern and eastern coasts of Arabian Gulf, the “Ahvaz”, stealing its capabilities and natural wealth, but rather proceeded maliciously to steal the Arab time, thought and culture. These attempts still exist until our time through intellectual terrorism practiced by Safavid occupation on the Arab people of Ahvaz, starting with changing the names of geographical places until reaching to persons’ names. This is in addition to forcing people to deal, in their official transactions, in Persian language. Whoever violates such procedures shall be subject to severe penalties; firstly, to humiliate the Arabs and, secondly, to kill the Arab spirit roots in young people of Ahvaz. The truth is that a simple comparison would reveal that what the occupying Iranian government applies to the Arabs of Ahvaz goes one step at a time with what the usurping Zionist entity applies to the Arab land of Palestine. Malicious colonial thought is the same; even if it differs slightly, yet it emerges from one receptacle, i.e., hatred and resentment of anything that is Arab, with its culture, intellectual and civilizational heritage. Iran has practiced a method of psychological warfare against the Arabs and terrorized them by insulting and despising every Arab appearance and forcing Arabs to use Pahlavi dress code and Persian language, deliberately changing the original Arabic names of cities, towns, rivers and other geographical locations in Arab Ahvaz. For example, the city of Muhammarah, the capital of Ahvaz was renamed to “Khorram Shahr”, which is a Persian word meaning the green country. The process of changing the Arab character and heritage attained all aspects of life in Ahvaz after its Safavid occupation, with the aim of imposing Persian culture. At the top of the taboos approved by the Iranian-Persian occupation was speaking in Arabic language in public places, and whoever violates that order is punishable, as speaking in Arabic language is a crime punishable by the occupied Safavid law. Safavid Iran decided that the curricula in Ahvazi schools should be in Persian language only, where it is not permissible to speak any other language. Ahvazi people were prevented from naming their newborns with Arabic names and wearing in Arab style and were forced to replace it with the Persian Pahlavi dress. This is one of the worst types of intellectual and cultural terrorism that oppressed peoples may face with oppression and tyranny. To complement that terrorism, Iranian government issued a press newspaper in the city of Muhammarah and called it “Khuzestan” newspaper, which is published in Persian and the people of Ahvaz are obligated to buy and read it. Thereafter, the Persians prevented the circulation of Arabic publications and whoever circulates them may be judicially persecuted by Iranian courts, for practicing one of the taboos and major crimes punishable by that unjust law.

Among the Safavid hatred of all that is Arab is that they seized all private libraries and transferred their contents to Iran, in addition to destroying many of them and throwing them into Karun River. They also closed the printing house in Muhammarah, fearing that Arabic books would be printed therein, or even pamphlets hostile to Safavid occupation. They closed all bookstores that sell Arabic publications, confiscated their contents and abused their owners. Magian regime in Tehran has many tricks and deceitful games to fight the Arabic language and identity, including the rejection of all transactions if they are not written in Persian language. They prevented Ahvazi people from going to government departments unless they would deal with the employees in Persian language. This is to the extent that testimony of any Arab is not accepted in the courts if he does not speak Farsi, on the pretext that the judges are not fluent in Arabic language. Courts do not accept any interpreter for the Arabs before them. Among their tricks is to prevent any Arab from joining a government job unless he proves his proficiency in Persian language. This procedure has led to exposing several Ahvazi people who refuse to speak Persian to emigration and displacement outside Ahvaz. Those scenes and images, in fact, activated our historical memory a little, as such practices are an extension of Shah Ismail the Safavid’s Iran. It is, rather, a form of the Mongol attacks on Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid state, and the destruction of its civilization, in addition to being an ugly example of the terrible inquisition courts of the Arabs in Andalusia. What links them all is the hatred for the Arabs with an unprecedented hatred in human history.