Ahwazi Arab Hossein Ka'abi was one of four footballers expelled from the Iranian national side today after staging an on-pitch protest against the presidential election results during a match last week against South Korea.Ahwaz-born Ka'abi, who has played for English League One team Leicester City FC, joined Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian in wearing green armbands in support of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, an opponent of President Ahmadinejad. Two other players also wore green armbands but have not been dismissed.
During the match held in Seoul, supporters of the Iranian team showed their support for the demonstrations in Iran by staging a protest outside the stadium. They unfurled a banner that read "Go To Hell Dictator," and chanted "Compatriots, we will be with you to the end with the same heart." During the match, protesters waved the banner, held up green paper signs reading "Where is my vote?" and waved Iran's national flags emblazed with the plea "Free Iran."
Ka'abi is one of Iran's most talented footballers, known for his aggressive style which has helped the Iranian side win at an international level. His passport has now been confiscated. There are concerns that he and the other footballers who participated in the protest will be imprisoned.
Ka'abi is believed to be a descendent of Sheikh Khaza'al, the powerful Arab sheikh of Mohammareh who ruled much of what is now the province of Khuzestan. Khaza'al was deposed by Reza Khan in 1925.
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22 June, 2009
Iran: The Uprising in Ahwaz
The following YouTube videos trace the unrest in Ahwaz, an Arab majority city in Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province. Mehdi Karroubi had topped the poll in the province in 2005, with Ahmadinejad in a distant third place. This year, Ahmadinejad came first with an overwhelming majority - a result that the electorate regards as impossible.
9/10 June: Anti-Ahmadinejad supporters come out onto the streets of Ahwaz City in large numbers ahead of the presidential election
13 June: Riot police and Bassij attack pro-Mousavi demonstrators in Ahwaz City streets
From 13 June: Demonstrations and riots break out in Ahwaz after election result is announced
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The following YouTube videos trace the unrest in Ahwaz, an Arab majority city in Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province. Mehdi Karroubi had topped the poll in the province in 2005, with Ahmadinejad in a distant third place. This year, Ahmadinejad came first with an overwhelming majority - a result that the electorate regards as impossible.
9/10 June: Anti-Ahmadinejad supporters come out onto the streets of Ahwaz City in large numbers ahead of the presidential election
13 June: Riot police and Bassij attack pro-Mousavi demonstrators in Ahwaz City streets
From 13 June: Demonstrations and riots break out in Ahwaz after election result is announced
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18 June, 2009
Iran: Situation in Ahwaz 'worse than Tehran'
Ahwaz City is in turmoil with 'many, many dead' at the hands of police and the Bassij, supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to numerous independent eye-witness accounts received by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS).
Security forces have imposed martial law on the city and have targetted the district of Hay Al-Thawra, which has been a hotbed of ethnic Arab unrest against the regime in recent years. Residents claim that they are living under curfew unable to leave their homes while security forces are opening fire with live rounds on any gathering. Ethnic Arab residents claim that foreign Arabs with Lebanese accents, probably from the Lebanese Hezbollah, are being organised into death squads co-ordinated by the paramilitary Bassij and official vigilante groups. Lebanon's Hezbollah uses Qods Force bases in the province as training grounds.
President Ahmadinejad was given a clear lead in Khuzestan province, according to the controversial official election results. The results were a surprise as most expected a strong vote for Mehdi Karroubi among the local Arab population. He had topped the poll in the province in 2005 with his message of ethnic rights winning support among the Ahwazi Arabs, who are subjected to discrimination and high levels of deprivation.
"The lack of foreign media in Ahwaz means that the Iranian regime believes it is acting with impunity," said BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad. "Ahwaz and Isfahan are the two cities outside Tehran that are seeing the largest popular uprisings and the most brutal response by the state terror machine, but lines of communication with these cities are very limited. The number of deaths is unknown, but reports suggest they are in double figures. Hundreds have been arrested. Even when the unrest has died down, we expect the arrests to continue.
"In the past, any unrest in Ahwaz is always followed by a wave of summary and judicial executions. Sometimes bodies of those who have 'disappeared' have been found in the river Karoun with marks of severe torture.
"This is likely to happen again unless the United Nations takes action immediately and, at the very least, sends human rights observers to Ahwaz. We call on the world's democracies to take action to ensure that human rights are protected throughout Iran and not to focus just on Tehran. We call for full sanctions on all foreign groups and their political affiliates who are suspected of involvement in state terror in Iran."
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Ahwaz City is in turmoil with 'many, many dead' at the hands of police and the Bassij, supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to numerous independent eye-witness accounts received by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS).Security forces have imposed martial law on the city and have targetted the district of Hay Al-Thawra, which has been a hotbed of ethnic Arab unrest against the regime in recent years. Residents claim that they are living under curfew unable to leave their homes while security forces are opening fire with live rounds on any gathering. Ethnic Arab residents claim that foreign Arabs with Lebanese accents, probably from the Lebanese Hezbollah, are being organised into death squads co-ordinated by the paramilitary Bassij and official vigilante groups. Lebanon's Hezbollah uses Qods Force bases in the province as training grounds.
President Ahmadinejad was given a clear lead in Khuzestan province, according to the controversial official election results. The results were a surprise as most expected a strong vote for Mehdi Karroubi among the local Arab population. He had topped the poll in the province in 2005 with his message of ethnic rights winning support among the Ahwazi Arabs, who are subjected to discrimination and high levels of deprivation.
"The lack of foreign media in Ahwaz means that the Iranian regime believes it is acting with impunity," said BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad. "Ahwaz and Isfahan are the two cities outside Tehran that are seeing the largest popular uprisings and the most brutal response by the state terror machine, but lines of communication with these cities are very limited. The number of deaths is unknown, but reports suggest they are in double figures. Hundreds have been arrested. Even when the unrest has died down, we expect the arrests to continue.
"In the past, any unrest in Ahwaz is always followed by a wave of summary and judicial executions. Sometimes bodies of those who have 'disappeared' have been found in the river Karoun with marks of severe torture.
"This is likely to happen again unless the United Nations takes action immediately and, at the very least, sends human rights observers to Ahwaz. We call on the world's democracies to take action to ensure that human rights are protected throughout Iran and not to focus just on Tehran. We call for full sanctions on all foreign groups and their political affiliates who are suspected of involvement in state terror in Iran."
Labels: elections, human rights, intifada, terrorism
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15 June, 2009
Assessing the ethnic vote in Iran's elections
Iran's presidential elections have revealed the true extent of the ethnic dimension of Iranian politics, which could prove to be the country's most revolutionary force.
Ethnic issues were at the fore of campaigning in ethnic minority-dominated provinces. In a recent article for the National Democratic Institute, Kaveh-Cyrus Sanandaji of the Middle East Centre at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, wrote:
The far lower rates of turnout in provinces where non-Persian ethnic groups are concentrated indicate a higher rate of 'rejectionist' sentiment that can be attributed to secessionist, autonomist or federalist sentiment. There is no motivating factor other than ethnicity that can account for the sharp divergence in abstention rates between ethnic Persians and non-Persians. The lower rates of turnout are therefore a sign of significant progress for the banned ethnic federalist and secessionist movements that called for an election boycott.
Ethnicity-related rejectionism can be roughly deduced by measuring the difference between the turnout in predominantly Persian and non-Persian provinces. This difference was around 27% in Kurdistan, 21% in West Azerbaijan, 19% in Khuzestan, 16% in Sistan va Balochistan and 11% each in Ardabil and Kermanshah. The Kurdish population, which covers Kermanshah and significant parts of West Azerbaijan as well as Kurdistan province, appears to be the most inclined towards separatism while the Azeris, which are concentrated in West and East Azerbaijan and Ardabil, appear to be the least separatist. The Arab population, which makes up a majority in Khuzestan, and the Balochis also have higher rates of rejection of the political system than seen in Persian areas of the country. In the Golestan and North Khorasan provinces, where the one-million strong Turkmen population is concentrated, the abstention rate is a third higher than the national average at around 20%.
Further adjustment to exclude Persian minorities in these six non-Persian provinces suggests that up to one in three Kurds, one in four Arabs and Balochis and one in nine Azeris - totalling at least three to four million Iranian citizens, or 20-28% of the non-Persian electorate - could be in favour of a political revolution where ethnic groups are given more autonomy or outright independence. This is likely to be a conservative estimate, since these figures are based on flawed election results which may have exagerrated turnout in these provinces in order to hand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad his re-election victory.
Moreover, many non-Persians who voted for the 'reformist' candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had regarded them as the least worst option, having been encouraged by their appeals for greater attention to ethnic rights. This could have accounted for Mousavi's considerable vote among Azeris, who comprise at least a quarter of Iran's population and are generally loyal to any Azeri candidate. The Bakhtiari and Lori votes in the provinces of Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari and Lorestan may also have been encouraged by Rezaee and Karroubi, who are from these ethnic groups. Turnouts in these provinces were above the national average, although the vote for these candidates was suspiciously poor even in their home towns.
Given a genuine choice in free and fair elections, it is likely that non-Persian groups would opt for greater powers over their regional affairs. When the ethnic rejectionist vote is combined with the official votes for the 'reformist' candidates, two-thirds of the non-Persian electorate rejected Ahmadinejad. After factoring in the fake votes for Ahmadinejad and the likely uncounted votes for his opponents, the desire for change among non-Persians is overwhelming - potentially at least 80% - and far stronger than among Iran's dominant Persian ethnic group.
The level of mobilisation around ethnicity is as strong as class identity and is an important dimension in the debate on Iran's political future. Yet, the future of Iran could be determined by this political under-current that is sidelined by the self-appointed 'Iran experts' in the West as well as Iran's own repressed intelligensia and highly censored media.
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Iran's presidential elections have revealed the true extent of the ethnic dimension of Iranian politics, which could prove to be the country's most revolutionary force.Ethnic issues were at the fore of campaigning in ethnic minority-dominated provinces. In a recent article for the National Democratic Institute, Kaveh-Cyrus Sanandaji of the Middle East Centre at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, wrote:
The resurgence in minority grievances has recently brought ethnic politics to the fore with an unprecedented sense of urgency, and the regime has taken steps to assuage perceptions of disenfranchisement or repression shared by ethnic minorities ...Voting trends reveal that despite efforts to campaign for the ethnic minority vote, increasing numbers of non-Persians are rejecting the political system and abstaining. The official results show that six provinces where the presidential election turn-out was below 80% are dominated by Kurds, Arabs, Azeris and Balochis, indicating a growing ethnic-based resistance to the political system. Outside these provinces, turnout averaged 90% and ranged between 80-100%.
The discourse on ethnic politics has also drastically expanded during the 2009 presidential campaigns. Mousavi in particular has been campaigning in the minority-dominated provinces of Azerbaijan, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Mazandaran and Golestan, among others. Beyond the standard assurances of greater minority incorporation in government and promises to respect minority rights, which are echoed by Karroubi and Rezai, Mousavi has proposed unprecedented, detailed policies to address minority grievances.
The far lower rates of turnout in provinces where non-Persian ethnic groups are concentrated indicate a higher rate of 'rejectionist' sentiment that can be attributed to secessionist, autonomist or federalist sentiment. There is no motivating factor other than ethnicity that can account for the sharp divergence in abstention rates between ethnic Persians and non-Persians. The lower rates of turnout are therefore a sign of significant progress for the banned ethnic federalist and secessionist movements that called for an election boycott.
Ethnicity-related rejectionism can be roughly deduced by measuring the difference between the turnout in predominantly Persian and non-Persian provinces. This difference was around 27% in Kurdistan, 21% in West Azerbaijan, 19% in Khuzestan, 16% in Sistan va Balochistan and 11% each in Ardabil and Kermanshah. The Kurdish population, which covers Kermanshah and significant parts of West Azerbaijan as well as Kurdistan province, appears to be the most inclined towards separatism while the Azeris, which are concentrated in West and East Azerbaijan and Ardabil, appear to be the least separatist. The Arab population, which makes up a majority in Khuzestan, and the Balochis also have higher rates of rejection of the political system than seen in Persian areas of the country. In the Golestan and North Khorasan provinces, where the one-million strong Turkmen population is concentrated, the abstention rate is a third higher than the national average at around 20%.
Further adjustment to exclude Persian minorities in these six non-Persian provinces suggests that up to one in three Kurds, one in four Arabs and Balochis and one in nine Azeris - totalling at least three to four million Iranian citizens, or 20-28% of the non-Persian electorate - could be in favour of a political revolution where ethnic groups are given more autonomy or outright independence. This is likely to be a conservative estimate, since these figures are based on flawed election results which may have exagerrated turnout in these provinces in order to hand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad his re-election victory.
Moreover, many non-Persians who voted for the 'reformist' candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had regarded them as the least worst option, having been encouraged by their appeals for greater attention to ethnic rights. This could have accounted for Mousavi's considerable vote among Azeris, who comprise at least a quarter of Iran's population and are generally loyal to any Azeri candidate. The Bakhtiari and Lori votes in the provinces of Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari and Lorestan may also have been encouraged by Rezaee and Karroubi, who are from these ethnic groups. Turnouts in these provinces were above the national average, although the vote for these candidates was suspiciously poor even in their home towns.
Given a genuine choice in free and fair elections, it is likely that non-Persian groups would opt for greater powers over their regional affairs. When the ethnic rejectionist vote is combined with the official votes for the 'reformist' candidates, two-thirds of the non-Persian electorate rejected Ahmadinejad. After factoring in the fake votes for Ahmadinejad and the likely uncounted votes for his opponents, the desire for change among non-Persians is overwhelming - potentially at least 80% - and far stronger than among Iran's dominant Persian ethnic group.
The level of mobilisation around ethnicity is as strong as class identity and is an important dimension in the debate on Iran's political future. Yet, the future of Iran could be determined by this political under-current that is sidelined by the self-appointed 'Iran experts' in the West as well as Iran's own repressed intelligensia and highly censored media.
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Iran: Attacks on Revolutionary Guards in Ahwaz as Arabs reject election results
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Reports from two separate sources has confirmed that Arab militants have attacked members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the Kampolo and Chaharshir districts of Ahwaz City, inflicting 'losses' - it is unclear what those losses are.
The attacks come after the announcement of fradulent presidential election results, which gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide win. The chair of the electoral commission in Khuzestan province, which is home to most of Iran's indigenous Arab population, gave Ahmadinejad a 64% share of the vote with Mir-Hossein Mousavi on 27%, Mohsen Rezaee 7% and Mehdi Karroubi less than 1%. He added that in the Arab city of Khoramshahr (Mohammara), which lies on the Shatt al-Arab near Iraq, Ahmadinejad's support rose to 78% with Mousavi on 18%, Rezaee 2% and Karroubi less than 1%.
Sources in Ahwaz have said that outside the security services, Ahmadinejad is deeply unpopular and his support within the civilian population has diminished. The results are even more miraculous given that the dominant Arab population has displayed some of the greatest defiance against the regime, particularly in Khorramshahr/Mohammara where ethnic unrest has been accompanied by frequent industrial action over non-payment of wages in key industries. Khuzestan has never been considered a base of support for Ahmadinejad. In 2005, he officially came third with 14.4% of the vote, well behind Karroubi on 34.5% and Hashemi Rafsanjani on 20.5%. Karroubi's share of the vote in Khuzestan was twice the national average.
An ethnic Lor from neighbouring Lorestan, Karroubi had made ethnic rights a key plank of his bid for the presidency. This won him support from many Arab figures, including former Majlis member Jasem Shadidzadeh al-Tamimi who was his campaign manager in the province. Ethnic Lors are also indigenous to northern areas of Khuzestan and it is believed he had overwhelming support among them. Yet, in Karroubi's hometown of Aligordaz in Loristan, Ahmadinejad received 39,690 votes, Karoubi 14,512 and Mousavi 9,330 votes.
Meanwhile, Khuzestan is home to Mohsen Rezaee, who belongs to the Bakhtiari ethnic group that is concentrated in the east of the province. Although he is not believed to be widely popular, yet in the village of Lali where Rezaee is from, Ahmadinejad won 830 out of 900 votes, an implausible 92% of the vote. Meanwhile, Mousavi has enjoyed strong and growing popularity in the province as he has sought to consolidate opposition to Ahmadinejad around him.
Most Ahwazi Arabs expected vote-rigging, but few foresaw it on this scale. There is universal agreement that the provincial results were imposed by Ayatollah Khamenei without any count being conducted.
Speaking to the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, an Ahwazi activist said: "The results for Rezaee and Karroubi in their home towns demonstrates that electoral fraud is not only carried out to subvert the democratic will of the people but also to deny the voice of ethnic minority groups, such as the Lori, Bakhtiari and Ahwazi Arabs, who are opposed to this chauvinist regime and in particular Ayatollah Khamenei's puppet Ahmadinejad.
"Even hardline Majlis members are now admitting that the Ahmadinejad administration has a poor reputation in the province, particularly in dealing with the growing problem of drug addiction and unemployment among the youth.
"Hardliners have joined calls for a fair and just redistribution of wealth to eliminate poverty among the indigenous Arabs and realise the local population's legitimate demands.
"Ahmadinejad and his supporters say any such talk creates divisions within the Iranian population and try to suppress any debate on the economic and political situation of Ahwazi Arabs.
"Why would an overwhelming majority go and vote for this dictator?
"There are protests everywhere and the situation in Ahwaz is no different from Tehran."
The British Ahwazi Friendship Society, a London-based lobbying and advocacy group working with the Ahwazi Arabs, is urging the British government and the international community not to recognise the results of this election.
BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "All instruments of power are in the hands of the military and the Guards and the most ideologically driven and fundamentalist Shi'a clergy. They will not give one inch of power away, even to the so-called reformist opposition within the establishment.
"We encourage Ahwazi Arabs to organise civil society groups under any name as well as underground organisations to affect the very explosive situation.
"We call on Ahwazi Arabs to renew their intifada against the Iranian regime that began in April 2005 and rise up against this despised government, because the alternative is another four years of servitude, poverty and oppression.
"We hope that the scales will fall from the eyes of all peoples of Iran and that they will withdraw their participation in the regime's democratic charade."
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18 December, 2006
Crushing defeat for Ahmadinejad in Ahwaz
Ahwazi Arabs delivered a crushing blow to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received in the elections for the Assembly of Experts and municipal authorities as well as by-elections for the Majlis.
Writing in the Elaph newspaper, the Tehran-based Ahwazi journalist Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf wrote that 60 per cent of eligible voters boycotted the elections in the Arab majority province of Khuzestan, where over 170 Arab candidates were barred from standing. Despite this, anti-Ahmadinejad independent "reformists" achieved a complete landslide.
The popular rejection of Ahmadinejad comes after months of mass arrests and executions of Ahwazi political activists and the outlawing of the Lejnat Al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee), an Arab group that had won all but one seat on the Ahwaz City Council in 2003. This year's elections saw Ahmadinejad supporters win just two seats on the council, despite violent intimidation; over 25,000 political activists have been arrested and hundreds have been killed or 'disappeared' since the April 2005 Ahwazi Arab intifada (uprising) against the regime.
Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, said: "The largest vote was the boycott vote, with an absolute majority of Ahwazis rejecting the entire political system. Those elected to office have no mandate to govern when the majority of voters boycotted the elections. Unless Ahwazi Arabs are allowed to form their own parties to contest free and fair elections, they have the right to reject the political system and sabotage the instruments of their oppression.
"Ahmadinejad is so unpopular in Ahwaz that his supporters cannot achieve any respectable vote despite state violence and ballot stuffing. Ahwazi voters completely rejected him in last year's presidential election and anti-Ahmadinejad sentiment has hardened since he came to office. Ahmadinejad has not even dared to step into the city because he is not welcome."
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Ahwazi Arabs delivered a crushing blow to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received in the elections for the Assembly of Experts and municipal authorities as well as by-elections for the Majlis.
Writing in the Elaph newspaper, the Tehran-based Ahwazi journalist Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf wrote that 60 per cent of eligible voters boycotted the elections in the Arab majority province of Khuzestan, where over 170 Arab candidates were barred from standing. Despite this, anti-Ahmadinejad independent "reformists" achieved a complete landslide.
The popular rejection of Ahmadinejad comes after months of mass arrests and executions of Ahwazi political activists and the outlawing of the Lejnat Al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee), an Arab group that had won all but one seat on the Ahwaz City Council in 2003. This year's elections saw Ahmadinejad supporters win just two seats on the council, despite violent intimidation; over 25,000 political activists have been arrested and hundreds have been killed or 'disappeared' since the April 2005 Ahwazi Arab intifada (uprising) against the regime.
Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, said: "The largest vote was the boycott vote, with an absolute majority of Ahwazis rejecting the entire political system. Those elected to office have no mandate to govern when the majority of voters boycotted the elections. Unless Ahwazi Arabs are allowed to form their own parties to contest free and fair elections, they have the right to reject the political system and sabotage the instruments of their oppression.
"Ahmadinejad is so unpopular in Ahwaz that his supporters cannot achieve any respectable vote despite state violence and ballot stuffing. Ahwazi voters completely rejected him in last year's presidential election and anti-Ahmadinejad sentiment has hardened since he came to office. Ahmadinejad has not even dared to step into the city because he is not welcome."
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15 December, 2006
Ahwaz elections: Iran's intimidation, repression and racism
Ahwazi Arabs have staged a mass boycott of the elections to the Ahwaz municipal council and the Assembly of Experts amid accusations of electoral fraud, intimidation and political repression.
Writing in the Arabic media, leading Ahwazi journalist Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf has highlighted the regime's ban on Arab candidates, with members of the Ahwaz council prevented from seeking re-election.
In the 2003 elections to the council, all but one of the winning candidates were supported by the Lejnat Al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee) which advocated Arab minority rights on the basis of the equal rights enshrined in the Iranian Constitution. The elections were widely praised for being free, fair and transparent. Since then, the party has been outlawed and Wefaq members have been imprisoned, with leading members such as Ali Matouri Zadeh now facing execution.
In this year's elections, the regime has blocked over 170 Ahwazi Arabs from running for election to the Ahwaz municipal council following a racist vetting procedure conducted by the regime. While Ahwaz City is 70 per cent Arab, the vast majority of candidates allowed to stand for election are non-Arabs, including hardliners from the Revolutionary Guards which has conducted ethnic cleansing programmes in the province.
In the run-up to the polls, the regime conducted mass arrests of Ahwazi Arabs and fired on crowds of demonstrators with live ammunition (click here for further details). The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation reports that three Ahwazis arrested by the security services during recent demonstrations - Hassan Mola Niassi (31), Jassim Nadhan Niassi (30) and Nasseri Ramadan (26) - are being tortured in custody.
Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, said: "These elections have been marred by state violence, intimidation and electoral fraud. The bar on Arab council members from seeking re-election in order to elect hardline non-Arab outsiders is yet more proof of violent institutional anti-Arab racism in Iran.
"The elections violate the spirit of Iran's constitution, particularly Articles 15, 19 and 20 which guarantee equal rights for ethnic minorities. If the government is violating the constitution, then the government has no mandate to govern and no authority over the Ahwazi Arabs.
"Ahwazis have the right to disrupt peacefully all the activities of illegitimate municipal authorities and sabotage the instruments of their oppression. We urge Ahwazi Arabs to adopt civil disobedience tactics to overthrow the new Ahwaz City Council, whoever is declared the winner."
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Ahwazi Arabs have staged a mass boycott of the elections to the Ahwaz municipal council and the Assembly of Experts amid accusations of electoral fraud, intimidation and political repression.Writing in the Arabic media, leading Ahwazi journalist Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf has highlighted the regime's ban on Arab candidates, with members of the Ahwaz council prevented from seeking re-election.
In the 2003 elections to the council, all but one of the winning candidates were supported by the Lejnat Al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee) which advocated Arab minority rights on the basis of the equal rights enshrined in the Iranian Constitution. The elections were widely praised for being free, fair and transparent. Since then, the party has been outlawed and Wefaq members have been imprisoned, with leading members such as Ali Matouri Zadeh now facing execution.
In this year's elections, the regime has blocked over 170 Ahwazi Arabs from running for election to the Ahwaz municipal council following a racist vetting procedure conducted by the regime. While Ahwaz City is 70 per cent Arab, the vast majority of candidates allowed to stand for election are non-Arabs, including hardliners from the Revolutionary Guards which has conducted ethnic cleansing programmes in the province.
In the run-up to the polls, the regime conducted mass arrests of Ahwazi Arabs and fired on crowds of demonstrators with live ammunition (click here for further details). The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation reports that three Ahwazis arrested by the security services during recent demonstrations - Hassan Mola Niassi (31), Jassim Nadhan Niassi (30) and Nasseri Ramadan (26) - are being tortured in custody.
Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, said: "These elections have been marred by state violence, intimidation and electoral fraud. The bar on Arab council members from seeking re-election in order to elect hardline non-Arab outsiders is yet more proof of violent institutional anti-Arab racism in Iran.
"The elections violate the spirit of Iran's constitution, particularly Articles 15, 19 and 20 which guarantee equal rights for ethnic minorities. If the government is violating the constitution, then the government has no mandate to govern and no authority over the Ahwazi Arabs.
"Ahwazis have the right to disrupt peacefully all the activities of illegitimate municipal authorities and sabotage the instruments of their oppression. We urge Ahwazi Arabs to adopt civil disobedience tactics to overthrow the new Ahwaz City Council, whoever is declared the winner."
Labels: activism, elections, intifada
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15 October, 2006
Regime moves to prevent Arab representation on Assembly of Experts
The Governor of Khuzestan (Ahwaz) has appointed only non-Arabs to the committee overseeing the elections of the Arab-majority province's representatives on Iran's Assembly of Experts (Khobregan).
Twelve people were appointed to the committee by the controversial hardline Governor, Amir Hayat Moqaddam, who is an ally of President Mahmoud and a former Revolutionary Guards commander. The appointments included representatives of the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance and the intelligence and security agencies as well as the provincial attorney general and the head of the electoral registration office.
The Assembly of Experts is a congressional body of 86 Ayatollahs which selects the Supreme Leader (Valiye-Faqih) and supervises his activities. It is elected every eight years with the next election due in December. Khuzestan province, called Al-Ahwaz by its Arab population, elects six representatives to the Assembly of Experts.
Khuzestan's representatives on the Assembly of Experts have been involved in missionary activities in the UK through the Islamic Centre of England, which promotes Iran's brand of religious extremism among Muslims in the West. The current ICE director is Abdolhossein Moezi, a Khuzestan representative on the Assembly of Experts, who is also a trustee of the controversial Irshad Trust (click here for more information). He took over from Mohsen Araki, another Khuzestan representative on the Assembly of Experts, as Khamenei's personal representative in London. The religious extremism of Khuzestan's members on the Assembly of Experts is not representative of the Ahwazi Arab culture, which does not share the regime's hostility to the West.
The regime is keen to prevent Ahwazi Arabs from standing for election to the Assembly of Experts due to the growth of. In February 2003, the Wefagh party, an Arab ultra-reformist group, won all but one of the seats on the Ahwaz City Council in elections that were relatively fair. The Wefagh (Harmony) party has since been banned, its secretary general was barred from seeking re-election to parliament in 2004 and a number of party activists were imprisoned. The crushing of Wefagh ended Ahwazi Arab hopes of securing their rights through constitutional means, leading to an upsurge in anti-regime activism in Ahwaz.
The appointments to the election committee, which vets candidates and controls election procedures, appear to be an attempt by the regime to ensure that the outcome of the election to the Assembly of Experts is favourable to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his ally President Ahmadinejad. The composition of the election committee also highlights the discrimination against Ahwazi Arabs, preventing them from seeking public office.
Campaign news
The only Arab member of the Assembly of Experts, Abbas Kaabi, is seeking re-election by campaigning to reduce sentences for Ahwazi political prisoners and greater press freedom. However, over the past year, he has been unable or unwilling to use his position to stop the imprisonment of Ahwazi children, land confiscations and the closure of local newspapers by the regime.
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The Governor of Khuzestan (Ahwaz) has appointed only non-Arabs to the committee overseeing the elections of the Arab-majority province's representatives on Iran's Assembly of Experts (Khobregan).
Twelve people were appointed to the committee by the controversial hardline Governor, Amir Hayat Moqaddam, who is an ally of President Mahmoud and a former Revolutionary Guards commander. The appointments included representatives of the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance and the intelligence and security agencies as well as the provincial attorney general and the head of the electoral registration office.
The Assembly of Experts is a congressional body of 86 Ayatollahs which selects the Supreme Leader (Valiye-Faqih) and supervises his activities. It is elected every eight years with the next election due in December. Khuzestan province, called Al-Ahwaz by its Arab population, elects six representatives to the Assembly of Experts.
Khuzestan's representatives on the Assembly of Experts have been involved in missionary activities in the UK through the Islamic Centre of England, which promotes Iran's brand of religious extremism among Muslims in the West. The current ICE director is Abdolhossein Moezi, a Khuzestan representative on the Assembly of Experts, who is also a trustee of the controversial Irshad Trust (click here for more information). He took over from Mohsen Araki, another Khuzestan representative on the Assembly of Experts, as Khamenei's personal representative in London. The religious extremism of Khuzestan's members on the Assembly of Experts is not representative of the Ahwazi Arab culture, which does not share the regime's hostility to the West.
The regime is keen to prevent Ahwazi Arabs from standing for election to the Assembly of Experts due to the growth of. In February 2003, the Wefagh party, an Arab ultra-reformist group, won all but one of the seats on the Ahwaz City Council in elections that were relatively fair. The Wefagh (Harmony) party has since been banned, its secretary general was barred from seeking re-election to parliament in 2004 and a number of party activists were imprisoned. The crushing of Wefagh ended Ahwazi Arab hopes of securing their rights through constitutional means, leading to an upsurge in anti-regime activism in Ahwaz.
The appointments to the election committee, which vets candidates and controls election procedures, appear to be an attempt by the regime to ensure that the outcome of the election to the Assembly of Experts is favourable to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his ally President Ahmadinejad. The composition of the election committee also highlights the discrimination against Ahwazi Arabs, preventing them from seeking public office.
Campaign news
The only Arab member of the Assembly of Experts, Abbas Kaabi, is seeking re-election by campaigning to reduce sentences for Ahwazi political prisoners and greater press freedom. However, over the past year, he has been unable or unwilling to use his position to stop the imprisonment of Ahwazi children, land confiscations and the closure of local newspapers by the regime.
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19 June, 2005
Election results for Khuzestan
The election turn-out was very low in the Arab majority province of Khuzestan, with reports of deserted polling stations and negligible voting in some Arab districts.
The regime has given various turn-out figures, some as high as 80%. Officially, turn-out was 56% - a figure rejected by Ahwazi parties. The turn-out was probably less than 25% in Khuzestan, due to the boycott, the authorities' refusal to allow people to vote and general apathy.
Reformist presidential candidates have attacked the elections for widespread fraud and intimidation, with the regime accused of directing terrorist attacks to boost the vote of hard-liners.
Despite widespread electoral fraud, intimidation and a low-turn out in Khuzestan, reformist Mehdi Karrubi - a former Majlis speaker - topped the poll with more than a third of votes cast. He was followed by former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, who won around a fifth of votes. Hardline Tehran Mayor Mahmud Ahmadinezhad, who gained the backing of the religious elite, came third with just one in six of the votes.
It is unclear whether these results reflect the voting intentions of those who voted due to irregularities. But the flawed official results show that the candidate that topped the poll in Khuzestan, Mehdi Karrubi, will not be included in the second round run-off elections between Rafsanjani and Ahmadinezhad. Karrubi won roughly the same amount of votes as Rafsanjani and Ahmadinezhad combined.
With up to 80 per cent of the population of Khuzestan failing to vote in the first round, the elections revealed that most people in the Arab majority province have rejected Iran's political system.
Official results for Khuzestan
Mehdi Karrubi: 539,158 (34.5%)
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani: 319,883 (20.5%)
Mahmud Ahmadinezhad: 224,427 (14.4%)
Mustafa Moin: 148,375 (9.5%)
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf: 148,207 (9.5%)
Ali Larijani: 58,554 (3.7%)
Mohsen Mehralizadeh: 20,253 (1.3%)
Total vote cast = 1,563,000 or 56% of eligible voters
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The election turn-out was very low in the Arab majority province of Khuzestan, with reports of deserted polling stations and negligible voting in some Arab districts.
The regime has given various turn-out figures, some as high as 80%. Officially, turn-out was 56% - a figure rejected by Ahwazi parties. The turn-out was probably less than 25% in Khuzestan, due to the boycott, the authorities' refusal to allow people to vote and general apathy.
Reformist presidential candidates have attacked the elections for widespread fraud and intimidation, with the regime accused of directing terrorist attacks to boost the vote of hard-liners.
Despite widespread electoral fraud, intimidation and a low-turn out in Khuzestan, reformist Mehdi Karrubi - a former Majlis speaker - topped the poll with more than a third of votes cast. He was followed by former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, who won around a fifth of votes. Hardline Tehran Mayor Mahmud Ahmadinezhad, who gained the backing of the religious elite, came third with just one in six of the votes.
It is unclear whether these results reflect the voting intentions of those who voted due to irregularities. But the flawed official results show that the candidate that topped the poll in Khuzestan, Mehdi Karrubi, will not be included in the second round run-off elections between Rafsanjani and Ahmadinezhad. Karrubi won roughly the same amount of votes as Rafsanjani and Ahmadinezhad combined.
With up to 80 per cent of the population of Khuzestan failing to vote in the first round, the elections revealed that most people in the Arab majority province have rejected Iran's political system.
Official results for Khuzestan
Mehdi Karrubi: 539,158 (34.5%)
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani: 319,883 (20.5%)
Mahmud Ahmadinezhad: 224,427 (14.4%)
Mustafa Moin: 148,375 (9.5%)
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf: 148,207 (9.5%)
Ali Larijani: 58,554 (3.7%)
Mohsen Mehralizadeh: 20,253 (1.3%)
Total vote cast = 1,563,000 or 56% of eligible voters
Labels: elections
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Unrest on Polling Day
Ahwaz witnessed civil unrest on Friday, during Iran's presidential election. A polling station in Ahwaz City was hit by an artillery rocket and three cars were set alight. In Ramshir (Khalaf-Abad), 90km south-west of Ahwaz, a polling station was also hit a rocket. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
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Ahwaz witnessed civil unrest on Friday, during Iran's presidential election. A polling station in Ahwaz City was hit by an artillery rocket and three cars were set alight. In Ramshir (Khalaf-Abad), 90km south-west of Ahwaz, a polling station was also hit a rocket. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
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18 June, 2005
Election boycott in Khuzestan
Reports from Iran suggest that an overwhelming majority of Ahwazi Arabs boycotted the presidential elections in protest against the regime.
In recent weeks, Al-Ahwaz TV has been broadcasting to the Arab-majority province of Khuzestan calling for non-violent resistance and a boycott. Ahwazis responded positively to the call. Polling stations were reportedly empty throughout Friday in the province's Arab-populated districts, two months after the regime ordered a bloody crack-down on Ahwazi demonstrators which resulted in the deaths of over 160 unarmed civilians.
The regime claimed the turn-out in Khuzestan was over 80 per cent, well above the supposed national average of 65 per cent. Ahwazi groups called the claims "laughable" and "desperate propaganda".
Reformist presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi, who came third in the polls, said: "There has been bizarre interference. Money has changed hands. They can go and file a lawsuit against me, but I will give all the names of the people in power in my defence. I see this election as being rigged."
Another reformist candidate, Mustafa Moin, complained of "irregularities". In a statement, he said: "Take seriously the danger of fascism. Such creeping and complex attempts will eventually lead to militarism, authoritarianism as well as social and political suffocation in the country. This is a threat for civil society and is blocking reform."
Nasser Ban-Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "This election result was achieved through deceit, violence and fraud. Civil servants who said they were boycotting the poll were arrested and told to vote in three different polling stations or they would lose their jobs and be incarcerated. This is not a free and fair election by any standards.
"Ahwazi Arabs refuse to participate in a system that oppresses them, that rounds up hundreds of civilians, tortures them and kills them simply because of their ethnic origin and because their homeland is the most oil-rich place on the planet. Only mad men and fanatics believe that Arabs would willingly turn out to vote after two months of state violence.
"Whoever wins the second round of the elections, it makes no difference to the Ahwazis. The Ahwazis will still be living under a Supreme Leader, a tyrannical theocrat with no democratic legitimacy."
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Reports from Iran suggest that an overwhelming majority of Ahwazi Arabs boycotted the presidential elections in protest against the regime.
In recent weeks, Al-Ahwaz TV has been broadcasting to the Arab-majority province of Khuzestan calling for non-violent resistance and a boycott. Ahwazis responded positively to the call. Polling stations were reportedly empty throughout Friday in the province's Arab-populated districts, two months after the regime ordered a bloody crack-down on Ahwazi demonstrators which resulted in the deaths of over 160 unarmed civilians.
The regime claimed the turn-out in Khuzestan was over 80 per cent, well above the supposed national average of 65 per cent. Ahwazi groups called the claims "laughable" and "desperate propaganda".
Reformist presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi, who came third in the polls, said: "There has been bizarre interference. Money has changed hands. They can go and file a lawsuit against me, but I will give all the names of the people in power in my defence. I see this election as being rigged."
Another reformist candidate, Mustafa Moin, complained of "irregularities". In a statement, he said: "Take seriously the danger of fascism. Such creeping and complex attempts will eventually lead to militarism, authoritarianism as well as social and political suffocation in the country. This is a threat for civil society and is blocking reform."
Nasser Ban-Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "This election result was achieved through deceit, violence and fraud. Civil servants who said they were boycotting the poll were arrested and told to vote in three different polling stations or they would lose their jobs and be incarcerated. This is not a free and fair election by any standards.
"Ahwazi Arabs refuse to participate in a system that oppresses them, that rounds up hundreds of civilians, tortures them and kills them simply because of their ethnic origin and because their homeland is the most oil-rich place on the planet. Only mad men and fanatics believe that Arabs would willingly turn out to vote after two months of state violence.
"Whoever wins the second round of the elections, it makes no difference to the Ahwazis. The Ahwazis will still be living under a Supreme Leader, a tyrannical theocrat with no democratic legitimacy."
Labels: elections
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15 June, 2005
Iran bomb attacks are an inside job
There is mounting speculation that a string of bomb attacks across Iran was conducted by the security services seeking to terrorise the population into voting for militarist hard-liner Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in the presidential election.
At an election rally, former Education Minister Mostafa Moin, the candidate for the Islamic Iran Participation Front and one of the front-runners in the election, dismissed the notion that the Mujahideen or any other opposition group was involved in the attacks, which have killed at least 10 civilians.
In an interview with the UK's Guardian newspaper, Moin did not say who was directly responsible for the attacks in Ahvaz City, Tehran and other cities in the past few days. But when asked whether the attacks had official approval, Moin, whose party is in power in Khuzestan, said: "I do not consider it improbable. If they continue in this way, my supporters will hold an emergency meeting to study the situation and they will reconsider our participation in the election."
Moin's supporters have come under violent attack by supporters of Qalibaf and Rafsanjani, the other candidates tipped for the presidency. Election violence has mounted as Qalibaf's support has ebbed, despite backing for his bid for power by the mullahs.
The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), which lobbies on behalf of moderate Ahwazi organisations, human rights groups and the UK's 3,000-strong Ahwazi community, has dismissed reports that the bomb attacks were the work of fringe separatist groups. Ahwazi groups claiming responsibility are more likely to be seeking media attention, but do not have the military capability or organisation to conduct large bomb attacks within Iran.
BAFS has suggested that the attacks could be the work of secret police chief Hojjatol Islam Ali Younessi and his deputy Mohammad Reza Iravani, although the evidence is circumstantial. As Director of the General Directorate of Special Operations, Iravani was responsible for an attack on Imam Reza shrine which killed a number of pilgrims in June 1994, during Rafsanjani's administration. At the time, the attack was blamed on opposition groups. Iranian defectors later revealed that the attacks were a stage-managed by the DGSO in an attempt to force foreign governments into halting the activities of exiled opposition groups. The DGSO was reponsible for the murders of Christian priests, which were also initially blamed on foreign opposition groups but later revealed to be masterminded by Iravani.
BAFS spokesman Nasser Ban-Assad: "Khuzestan is being used by the military to stage these bomb attacks. Violence provides the most extreme elements within the regime an excuse to step up their campaign of persecution of Ahwazi Arabs, helps marginalise Ahwazi groups from the West and wins over support for their militarist agenda.
"Under President Khatami, the 'Reformists' failed to tackle these extremists and terrorists within the security infrastructure. Moin's party has achieved nothing for the Ahwazis in Khuzestan, despite having control over the provincial administration. The Ahwazis can only expect poverty and oppression from the regime, regardless of the puppet elected to the presidency.
"The regime has made the issue of voter turn-out into a referendum on the political system. We urge Ahwazis and other Iranians to abstain to deliver a vote of no confidence against the regime. Abstention will have a greater impact on the future of Iran than any bomb attack."
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There is mounting speculation that a string of bomb attacks across Iran was conducted by the security services seeking to terrorise the population into voting for militarist hard-liner Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in the presidential election.
At an election rally, former Education Minister Mostafa Moin, the candidate for the Islamic Iran Participation Front and one of the front-runners in the election, dismissed the notion that the Mujahideen or any other opposition group was involved in the attacks, which have killed at least 10 civilians.
In an interview with the UK's Guardian newspaper, Moin did not say who was directly responsible for the attacks in Ahvaz City, Tehran and other cities in the past few days. But when asked whether the attacks had official approval, Moin, whose party is in power in Khuzestan, said: "I do not consider it improbable. If they continue in this way, my supporters will hold an emergency meeting to study the situation and they will reconsider our participation in the election."
Moin's supporters have come under violent attack by supporters of Qalibaf and Rafsanjani, the other candidates tipped for the presidency. Election violence has mounted as Qalibaf's support has ebbed, despite backing for his bid for power by the mullahs.
The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), which lobbies on behalf of moderate Ahwazi organisations, human rights groups and the UK's 3,000-strong Ahwazi community, has dismissed reports that the bomb attacks were the work of fringe separatist groups. Ahwazi groups claiming responsibility are more likely to be seeking media attention, but do not have the military capability or organisation to conduct large bomb attacks within Iran.
BAFS has suggested that the attacks could be the work of secret police chief Hojjatol Islam Ali Younessi and his deputy Mohammad Reza Iravani, although the evidence is circumstantial. As Director of the General Directorate of Special Operations, Iravani was responsible for an attack on Imam Reza shrine which killed a number of pilgrims in June 1994, during Rafsanjani's administration. At the time, the attack was blamed on opposition groups. Iranian defectors later revealed that the attacks were a stage-managed by the DGSO in an attempt to force foreign governments into halting the activities of exiled opposition groups. The DGSO was reponsible for the murders of Christian priests, which were also initially blamed on foreign opposition groups but later revealed to be masterminded by Iravani.
BAFS spokesman Nasser Ban-Assad: "Khuzestan is being used by the military to stage these bomb attacks. Violence provides the most extreme elements within the regime an excuse to step up their campaign of persecution of Ahwazi Arabs, helps marginalise Ahwazi groups from the West and wins over support for their militarist agenda.
"Under President Khatami, the 'Reformists' failed to tackle these extremists and terrorists within the security infrastructure. Moin's party has achieved nothing for the Ahwazis in Khuzestan, despite having control over the provincial administration. The Ahwazis can only expect poverty and oppression from the regime, regardless of the puppet elected to the presidency.
"The regime has made the issue of voter turn-out into a referendum on the political system. We urge Ahwazis and other Iranians to abstain to deliver a vote of no confidence against the regime. Abstention will have a greater impact on the future of Iran than any bomb attack."
Labels: elections
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13 June, 2005
Ahwaz group claims responsibility for Iran attacks
The Party of the Ahwazi Arab Movement has claimed that it was responsible for the bomb attacks in Ahwaz City on 12 June.
However, the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has cast doubt on the group's claims and suggested that the bomb attacks are likely to have been carried out with support from security forces: either a faction of the Iranian military seeking to influence the elections or a unit set up by a foreign government.
Nasser Ban-Assad, BAFS spokesman, said: "Some fringe exile Ahwazi groups are keen to gain notoriety and publicity by claiming responsibility for bomb attacks and pipeline sabotage in Khuzestan. Few Ahwazis believe that such small groups can co-ordinate attacks half-way across the world. These bomb attacks in Ahvaz City - which have been followed by similar explosions in Tehran and Karaj - have nothing to do with the Ahwazis and are part of a wider national and geopolitical dispute between far greater powers.
"It is clear that any group would need expertise and an operational infrastructure to co-ordinate four large explosions within a time-frame of just two hours in one of Iran's most militarised cities. No Ahwazi group has this military capacity or support. Those groups that were once backed by Iraq and Syria were never particularly effective even when they were given arms and explosives, let alone now when they have no foreign support.
"It is highly unlikely the US or the UK would give military support to any Ahwazi group, as suggested by the Iranian government. If they wanted regime change in Tehran, it is unlikely they would turn to Ahwazi Arab groups to achieve their aims."
This is not the first time that fringe Ahwazi groups have claimed responsibility for attacks within Iran. In May, the Elaph website published a claim by Canadian resident Sabah Musawi that an attack on Pipeline 102 (Masjed-e-Soleiman to Ahwaz) was carried out by his grouping, the Canada-based Ahwaz Renaissance Movement. The site also attributes the attack on the Abadan/Abadan-Ma'shuur/Mahshur pipeline to the ARM, which was created in Damascas under the auspices of the Syrian Ba'ath party before moving the Canada some years ago. Few believe the ARM is capable of pipeline sabotage within Khuzestan.
Ban-Assad added: "The danger is that these bomb attacks have given a green light to the Iranian government to detain, torture and murder more Ahwazi Arab civilians. The Revolutionary Guards have already gunned down 160 Arabs in cold blood since the April uprising and many more have "disappeared". We have received reports that Ahwazi Arab political prisoners are being interrogated in the torture chambers of Karoon Prison, while the security forces are sweeping Arab neighbourhoods in Khuzestan arresting people arbitrarily. We fear that the cycle of violence is escalating, leaving little room for negotiation. Arabs are facing increased state violence following the attacks.
"If you want to know who is behind the attacks, you only have to think about who would benefit the most - and it is not the Arabs. Certainly, the more extreme hard-line elements of the Iranian establishment will benefit greatly from the nationalist and religious fervour and anti-Arab sentiments that will arise as a result of these bomb attacks.
"If this was the work of the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI) - or MEK/MKO - they will need to have sneaked out of US custody in Camp Ashraf in Iraq and into Iran while heavily armed, unless they had some help from their captors. This would raise some profound questions about the PMOI's designation as a terrorist group in the US and Europe. I believe that if the US and UK were to use the MKO to launch strikes within Iran, they would wait at least until after the elections and at a time when diplomatic negotiations over Iran's nuclear activities have been exhausted. But we can only speculate at this moment in time."
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The Party of the Ahwazi Arab Movement has claimed that it was responsible for the bomb attacks in Ahwaz City on 12 June.
However, the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has cast doubt on the group's claims and suggested that the bomb attacks are likely to have been carried out with support from security forces: either a faction of the Iranian military seeking to influence the elections or a unit set up by a foreign government.
Nasser Ban-Assad, BAFS spokesman, said: "Some fringe exile Ahwazi groups are keen to gain notoriety and publicity by claiming responsibility for bomb attacks and pipeline sabotage in Khuzestan. Few Ahwazis believe that such small groups can co-ordinate attacks half-way across the world. These bomb attacks in Ahvaz City - which have been followed by similar explosions in Tehran and Karaj - have nothing to do with the Ahwazis and are part of a wider national and geopolitical dispute between far greater powers.
"It is clear that any group would need expertise and an operational infrastructure to co-ordinate four large explosions within a time-frame of just two hours in one of Iran's most militarised cities. No Ahwazi group has this military capacity or support. Those groups that were once backed by Iraq and Syria were never particularly effective even when they were given arms and explosives, let alone now when they have no foreign support.
"It is highly unlikely the US or the UK would give military support to any Ahwazi group, as suggested by the Iranian government. If they wanted regime change in Tehran, it is unlikely they would turn to Ahwazi Arab groups to achieve their aims."
This is not the first time that fringe Ahwazi groups have claimed responsibility for attacks within Iran. In May, the Elaph website published a claim by Canadian resident Sabah Musawi that an attack on Pipeline 102 (Masjed-e-Soleiman to Ahwaz) was carried out by his grouping, the Canada-based Ahwaz Renaissance Movement. The site also attributes the attack on the Abadan/Abadan-Ma'shuur/Mahshur pipeline to the ARM, which was created in Damascas under the auspices of the Syrian Ba'ath party before moving the Canada some years ago. Few believe the ARM is capable of pipeline sabotage within Khuzestan.
Ban-Assad added: "The danger is that these bomb attacks have given a green light to the Iranian government to detain, torture and murder more Ahwazi Arab civilians. The Revolutionary Guards have already gunned down 160 Arabs in cold blood since the April uprising and many more have "disappeared". We have received reports that Ahwazi Arab political prisoners are being interrogated in the torture chambers of Karoon Prison, while the security forces are sweeping Arab neighbourhoods in Khuzestan arresting people arbitrarily. We fear that the cycle of violence is escalating, leaving little room for negotiation. Arabs are facing increased state violence following the attacks."If you want to know who is behind the attacks, you only have to think about who would benefit the most - and it is not the Arabs. Certainly, the more extreme hard-line elements of the Iranian establishment will benefit greatly from the nationalist and religious fervour and anti-Arab sentiments that will arise as a result of these bomb attacks.
"If this was the work of the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI) - or MEK/MKO - they will need to have sneaked out of US custody in Camp Ashraf in Iraq and into Iran while heavily armed, unless they had some help from their captors. This would raise some profound questions about the PMOI's designation as a terrorist group in the US and Europe. I believe that if the US and UK were to use the MKO to launch strikes within Iran, they would wait at least until after the elections and at a time when diplomatic negotiations over Iran's nuclear activities have been exhausted. But we can only speculate at this moment in time."
Labels: elections
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12 June, 2005
Bomb blasts in Ahwaz City, Iran
Ahwaz City witnessed multiple bomb attacks this morning, just two months after the Iranian government launched a bloody crack-down on Ahwazi Arab protestors in Iran's Khuzestan province.
At least eight people were killed and dozens injured after massive bombs exploded in carefully targetted areas of Ahvaz City, Khuzestan's provincial capital: opposite the governor general's office, in front of the province's housing and urban development department and outside the house of the provincial chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
The attacks were co-ordinated to go off at around 6.00am GMT. No group has claimed responsibility. Ali Aqamohammadi, the official spokesman for Iran's Spreme Council on National Security and Khuzestan's Governor, blamed the attacks on the separatist Ahwazi Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front (ADPF). The ADPF, which claimed it was involved in the April demonstrations, denies any involvement. Its London-based spokesman Mahmoud Ahmad told Al-Jazeera TV: "We have no idea who has done this." The group is not known to be heavily armed and has not previously used explosives.
The armed opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), also known as the MKO and the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), has also denied responsibility for the attacks, which were followed by a bomb blast in Tehran. Most of the MEK's combatants are being held in US custody at Camp Ashraf, the group's former headquarters in Iraq. The government's Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) has put the blame on the Brigades of Revolutionary Martyrs of Al-Ahwaz, an unknown "terrorist" group. There are suspicions that the bombs were planted by hard-liners within the regime itself to stir up religious extremism within the population and influence the results of the election.
The April riots were sparked by the publication of a letter written by the then Vice-President Ali Abtahi which outlined plans to reduce the number of Arabs in Khuzestan from three-quarters to around a third of the total population, while eliminating Arab cultural heritage and placenames in the province. The letter can be downloaded here.
Before the bomb attacks, local Ahwazi Arab leaders urged the government to give Khuzestan's largest ethnic group a fair share of the province's oil wealth and the right to political representation. In May, Jasem Shadidzadeh Al-Tamimi, a former member of parliament and the Secretary General of the Islamic Wefagh Party, a legal group representing Iranian Arabs, wrote an open letter to President Khatami. He asked him to "do your utmost in lowering the 'wall of mistrust' between the proud Iranian ethnicities, so that the 'infected wounds' of the Arab people of Ahwaz may heal." He stated that the government was denying Ahwazi Arabs peaceful, democratic means for protest.
Nasser Ban-Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "I would not be surprised if an element of the Ahwazi Arab population decided to use violent means, but the attacks are not going to help the situation in Khuzestan. We fear that today's wave of attacks will invite retaliation on the Arab population of Khuzestan by the regime. Government forces have already killed 160 Arab civilians over the past two months and hundreds more are being detained, including intellectuals and tribal leaders. There is evidence of torture and the arbitrary use of state violence on innocent civilians.
"We are calling on Ahwazi Arabs to take up non-violent direct action against the regime and to boycott the forthcoming presidential elections. The call for civil disobedience is being broadcasted by the Al-Ahwaz TV station on the Assyrian satellite channel. We are also calling on Western governments, politicians and non-governmental organisations to highlight the plight of the Ahwazis and call for an end to their persecution and poverty."
Documents on Ahwazi Arabs in Khuzestan
Human Rights and the Ahwazi People
Ahwazis and the Legacy of War
Development and the Legacy of the Iran-Iraq War
The Economic Marginalisation of Ahwazis
Forced Migration and Land Confiscation in Khuzestan
Human Rights Watch Report on Khuzestan
Amnesty International Report on Khuzestan
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keywords: ahvaz ahwaz ahwazi arabistan khuzestan khuzistan khuzestani arab arabistan iran iranian human rights security oil news ahmadinejad ethnic cleansing
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Ahwaz City witnessed multiple bomb attacks this morning, just two months after the Iranian government launched a bloody crack-down on Ahwazi Arab protestors in Iran's Khuzestan province.At least eight people were killed and dozens injured after massive bombs exploded in carefully targetted areas of Ahvaz City, Khuzestan's provincial capital: opposite the governor general's office, in front of the province's housing and urban development department and outside the house of the provincial chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
The attacks were co-ordinated to go off at around 6.00am GMT. No group has claimed responsibility. Ali Aqamohammadi, the official spokesman for Iran's Spreme Council on National Security and Khuzestan's Governor, blamed the attacks on the separatist Ahwazi Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front (ADPF). The ADPF, which claimed it was involved in the April demonstrations, denies any involvement. Its London-based spokesman Mahmoud Ahmad told Al-Jazeera TV: "We have no idea who has done this." The group is not known to be heavily armed and has not previously used explosives.The armed opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), also known as the MKO and the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), has also denied responsibility for the attacks, which were followed by a bomb blast in Tehran. Most of the MEK's combatants are being held in US custody at Camp Ashraf, the group's former headquarters in Iraq. The government's Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) has put the blame on the Brigades of Revolutionary Martyrs of Al-Ahwaz, an unknown "terrorist" group. There are suspicions that the bombs were planted by hard-liners within the regime itself to stir up religious extremism within the population and influence the results of the election.
The April riots were sparked by the publication of a letter written by the then Vice-President Ali Abtahi which outlined plans to reduce the number of Arabs in Khuzestan from three-quarters to around a third of the total population, while eliminating Arab cultural heritage and placenames in the province. The letter can be downloaded here.
Before the bomb attacks, local Ahwazi Arab leaders urged the government to give Khuzestan's largest ethnic group a fair share of the province's oil wealth and the right to political representation. In May, Jasem Shadidzadeh Al-Tamimi, a former member of parliament and the Secretary General of the Islamic Wefagh Party, a legal group representing Iranian Arabs, wrote an open letter to President Khatami. He asked him to "do your utmost in lowering the 'wall of mistrust' between the proud Iranian ethnicities, so that the 'infected wounds' of the Arab people of Ahwaz may heal." He stated that the government was denying Ahwazi Arabs peaceful, democratic means for protest.
Nasser Ban-Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "I would not be surprised if an element of the Ahwazi Arab population decided to use violent means, but the attacks are not going to help the situation in Khuzestan. We fear that today's wave of attacks will invite retaliation on the Arab population of Khuzestan by the regime. Government forces have already killed 160 Arab civilians over the past two months and hundreds more are being detained, including intellectuals and tribal leaders. There is evidence of torture and the arbitrary use of state violence on innocent civilians.
"We are calling on Ahwazi Arabs to take up non-violent direct action against the regime and to boycott the forthcoming presidential elections. The call for civil disobedience is being broadcasted by the Al-Ahwaz TV station on the Assyrian satellite channel. We are also calling on Western governments, politicians and non-governmental organisations to highlight the plight of the Ahwazis and call for an end to their persecution and poverty."
Documents on Ahwazi Arabs in Khuzestan
Human Rights and the Ahwazi People
Ahwazis and the Legacy of War
Development and the Legacy of the Iran-Iraq War
The Economic Marginalisation of Ahwazis
Forced Migration and Land Confiscation in Khuzestan
Human Rights Watch Report on Khuzestan
Amnesty International Report on Khuzestan
Labels: elections
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keywords: ahvaz ahwaz ahwazi arabistan khuzestan khuzistan khuzestani arab arabistan iran iranian human rights security oil news ahmadinejad ethnic cleansing
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24 May, 2005
Former Iranian MP in Ahwazi appeal
Jasem Shadidzadeh Al-Tamimi, a former member of Iran's Majlis and the Secretary General of the Islamic Wefagh Party, has appealed to President Khatami to address the problem of displacement, homelessness and deprivation among Ahwazi Arab people.
In an open letter to the President, he brought attention to the fact that "lands are 'purchased' at a dirt cheap price from the Arab farmers and sometimes taken without any compensation." He condemned the government's practice of bulldozing Arab neighbourhoods in the Iranian province of Khuzestan, particularly the destruction of the Sepeedar Residential Complex where 4,000 Arabs were made homeless by security forces despite objections by members of parliament.
Mr Shadidzadeh, who lost his seat during last year's Majlis elections when "troublesome" reformists were barred from standing, indicated that he shared the frustration of Khuzestan's Ahwazi Arabs, who have endured "one hundred years of pain and sufferings."
He cast doubt on the ability of reformists to alleviate the suffering of Ahwazis within the current constitution, saying "our wishful thinking about reforms in Arab affairs by the Reformists has been only a mirage." He added that the government's refusal to allow Arab parties, such as the Islamic Wefagh Party, to contest elections and its continuing ban on Arabic language newspapers and magazines was denying Ahwazi Arabs the right to air their grievances in a peaceful and democratic fashion. The Iranian Arab politician called on President Khatami to "do your utmost in lowering the 'wall of mistrust' between the proud Iranian ethnicities, so that the 'infected wounds' of the Arab people of Ahwaz may heal."
In relation to the recent Ahwazi uprising, Shadidzadeh requested that the President release prisoners, especially children, women, and political and cultural activists affiliated with legal but unofficial organizations. He also asked the President to release the bodies of those killed in the protests so they can be buried and mourned. Innocent prisoners who played no role in the rioting should be compensated, he added.
Shadidzadeh, a reformist from Khuzestan, is a critic of the brutality of law enforcement forces in the province. In the past, he condemned the employment of Badr Brigade militias belonging to the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI), now members of Iraq's ruling coalition, against Ahwazi Arabs in Khuzestan. The SCIRI militias were used by the regime in December 2002 during a series of uprisings in the Khuzestan cities of Ahwaz, Khoramshahr and Koot-Abdollah. The revolt occurred after the regime decided to confiscate satellite dishes and close down shops selling music and video tapes of Arabic music and dancing. Around 300 youths aged between 12 and 18 were arrested by security forces and SCIRI militias.
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keywords: ahvaz ahwaz ahwazi arabistan khuzestan khuzistan khuzestani arab arabistan iran iranian human rights security oil news ahmadinejad ethnic cleansing
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Jasem Shadidzadeh Al-Tamimi, a former member of Iran's Majlis and the Secretary General of the Islamic Wefagh Party, has appealed to President Khatami to address the problem of displacement, homelessness and deprivation among Ahwazi Arab people.In an open letter to the President, he brought attention to the fact that "lands are 'purchased' at a dirt cheap price from the Arab farmers and sometimes taken without any compensation." He condemned the government's practice of bulldozing Arab neighbourhoods in the Iranian province of Khuzestan, particularly the destruction of the Sepeedar Residential Complex where 4,000 Arabs were made homeless by security forces despite objections by members of parliament.
Mr Shadidzadeh, who lost his seat during last year's Majlis elections when "troublesome" reformists were barred from standing, indicated that he shared the frustration of Khuzestan's Ahwazi Arabs, who have endured "one hundred years of pain and sufferings."
He cast doubt on the ability of reformists to alleviate the suffering of Ahwazis within the current constitution, saying "our wishful thinking about reforms in Arab affairs by the Reformists has been only a mirage." He added that the government's refusal to allow Arab parties, such as the Islamic Wefagh Party, to contest elections and its continuing ban on Arabic language newspapers and magazines was denying Ahwazi Arabs the right to air their grievances in a peaceful and democratic fashion. The Iranian Arab politician called on President Khatami to "do your utmost in lowering the 'wall of mistrust' between the proud Iranian ethnicities, so that the 'infected wounds' of the Arab people of Ahwaz may heal."
In relation to the recent Ahwazi uprising, Shadidzadeh requested that the President release prisoners, especially children, women, and political and cultural activists affiliated with legal but unofficial organizations. He also asked the President to release the bodies of those killed in the protests so they can be buried and mourned. Innocent prisoners who played no role in the rioting should be compensated, he added.
Shadidzadeh, a reformist from Khuzestan, is a critic of the brutality of law enforcement forces in the province. In the past, he condemned the employment of Badr Brigade militias belonging to the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI), now members of Iraq's ruling coalition, against Ahwazi Arabs in Khuzestan. The SCIRI militias were used by the regime in December 2002 during a series of uprisings in the Khuzestan cities of Ahwaz, Khoramshahr and Koot-Abdollah. The revolt occurred after the regime decided to confiscate satellite dishes and close down shops selling music and video tapes of Arabic music and dancing. Around 300 youths aged between 12 and 18 were arrested by security forces and SCIRI militias.
Labels: elections
permalink
keywords: ahvaz ahwaz ahwazi arabistan khuzestan khuzistan khuzestani arab arabistan iran iranian human rights security oil news ahmadinejad ethnic cleansing
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