The Ahwaz, an Arabic land occupied by the Persians at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Reza Khan Pahlavi ended the Ka’bai state in Arabistan with an international conspiracy in the year (1925 AD).
The events of history, throughout its various eras, testify to the continuity of Persian Iranian ambitions in the Arab region.
Perhaps these ambitions subsided somewhat with the Arab Islamic conquest of Persia, but they soon returned to it again forcefully, especially after the weakness of the Abbasid state, and then the establishment of the Iranian Safavid state in the sixteenth century.
The story of Iran’s violation of the Arabic Ahwaz in the twentieth century is an important chapter in this regard at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The Ahwaz is located in the northern Arabian Gulf region to the east of the city of Basra.
The Ahwaz is an authentic Arabic region, in which several Arabic countries have been established throughout history, perhaps the most important of which was the Mosha’sha Sultanate between the years (1436-1724 AD), its capital was the city of the Hawiza.
This state was followed by another Arabic Emirate, which is the Ka’abi state that continued to rule the Ahwaz until the year (1925 AD).
The famous Iraqi historian Mustafa Abdul-Qader Al-Najjar studied the last stage in the rule of the Ka’abi state in the Ahwaz (Arabistan, meaning the country of the Arabs).
The historian came out with important and dangerous results about Britain’s collusion with Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Emperor of Iran in the year (1925 AD), based on documents and historical facts, allowing Iran to invade and annex the Ahwaz.
This deal was part of mapping the Middle East in the post-World War I world.
Iran’s interest in the occupation of the Arabic Ahwaz is due to its strategic importance. The Ahwaz is located on the eastern coast of the Arabian Gulf, in addition to its neighborhood with Iraq. Iran has a constant desire to interfere in Iraqi affairs.
The economic dimension is no less important than the strategic dimension in the matter of Iran’s seizure and occupation of the Ahwaz. This is because the Ahwaz region is characterized by its richness in oil. In fact, most of the Iranian oil and gas is extracted from the Ahwaz region.
The region of the Ahwaz is also characterized by the productivity of its lands, due to the Karun River. The Ahwaz is also the main supplier of corn and sugar to Iran.
Since Iran’s violation and annexation of the Ahwaz to it, the policy of (Persianization) began in the region with an attempt to erase the Arabic identity of the Ahwaz.
This began with changing the historical name of the region of “the Ahwaz” and giving it a Persian name, “Khuzestan”, meaning the country of castles and fortresses, in reference to the castles and forts built by the Arab conquerors in the region.
The Iranian administration also attempted to forcibly obliterate the Arab identity from the memory of new generations. For example, they changed the Arabic name of the famous city (Muhammarah) and gave it a Persian name, (Khorram Shahr). They also changed the name of the main street in the city of Muhammarah, which was known as “Khaza’li Street”, in relation to Sheikh Khaza’l, to a Persian name, “Pahlavi Street”.
This is in addition to changing the names of famous historical ports. For example, they changed the name of Khor Abdullah Port to Port of Bandar Shahpur.
It was not limited only to the persianization of names by obliterating the Arabic memory, but the matter extended to completely erasing the Arabic identity in the region by banning teaching in the Arabic language and imposing the Persian language in schools.
The Iranian authorities also worked to publish Persian newspapers in the Ahwaz.
Iran was not satisfied with that but resorted to a policy of demographic change in the demographics of the Ahwaz, by seeking to transfer many Arabs out of the region and replace them with Persian elements.
The policy of racial discrimination in the Ahwaz led to the discontent of the Arabs and their striving to assert their Arabic identity.
And this began during the Shah’s era. The voices defending the Arabism of Al-Ahwaz rose, especially after the establishment of the Arabistan Liberation Front in (1956 AD).
The sources indicate that the Israeli Mossad cooperated with the Shah’s regime in revealing the names of the leaders of this front and liquidating them.
Arabistan is the land of oil and the food basket on which Iran relies. Its occupation is a Persian strategy to erase Arabic history on its land and exploit its resources.
The Arabic rejection of the policies of racial discrimination and the impoverishment of the Ahwaz continued during the era of what is known as the Islamic Republic.
The largest uprisings in the Ahwaz region took place in 2005 against the policy of displacing and deporting many Arab elements from the region.
Amnesty International als observed in the year (2012) that some Ahwazi people were subjected to unfair trials “because of their work for the benefit of the Ahwazi Arab minority”. Strange charges were directed against them, such as “enmity to God and corruption on earth”, which are charges that carry the death penalty.
The latest report of Amnesty International (2022) on freedoms and the situation of minorities is the best evidence of the Iranian regime’s continuation of the policy of racial persecution against the Ahwazi Arabs. Recalling the report:
“People belonging to ethnic minorities such as Ahwazi Arabs and others have been subjected to unfair discrimination that limits their opportunities for education, work, and taking up political positions. Despite repeated calls for linguistic diversity, the Persian language has remained the only language for learning at the primary and secondary levels”.
- Ibrahim Al-Obaidy, the Ahwaz, Stolen Arabic Land (Baghdad: Dar Al-Huriya 1980).
- Khayr-Allah Talfah, the Arabic Ahwaz, Baghdad, Dar Al-Huriya 1982).
- Abdel-Karim Al-Gabouri, “an English traveler writes about the Arabism of the Ahwaz”, El-Dostor Magazine, issue 26, London (1981).
- Mustafa Al-Najjar, The Political History of the Arabic Arabistan Emirate 1897-1925 AD, (Cairo, Dar Almarif 1970).
- Amnesty International report on freedoms and minorities for the year 2021-2022.