Population: estimated to be between 5 and 7 million

Area: Al-Ahwaz province, 89,000 km2 in the south-west of Iran (although some Ahwazis reside outside of Al-Ahwaz)

Although the region inhabited by the Ahwazi is rich in natural resources and produces up to 95% of Iran’s oil and gas, the disproportion of wealth and the social inequality existing between Arabs and the ethnic majority Persians is clear, as the formers live in abject poverty. Discrimination policies towards the minorities and indigenous groups as well as Persianisation through legal means in the Khuzestan province leads to high unemployment rate in the region, and over 70% of the employees in the region are non-locals. Besides the severe socio-economic deprivation, the indigenous Arab people suffer from one of the highest rates of poverty in Iran, as well as high levels of water and air pollution due to oil exploitation.

Furthermore, as part of the Persianisation of the region, in the last 15 years, the Iranian government has confiscated land from indigenous farmers to resettle other ethnic groups and to establish development projects. Aggressive Persian nationalism also excludes Arabs and all other nationalities from educational systems and media, reflected in the ban of non-Persian languages, literature and cultures. Tehran denies the rich character of a multinational, multilingual and multicultural Iran by means of Persianisation policies.

Additionally, like other human rights activists in Iran, those who campaign for the Ahwazis face constant oppression from the government, including arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, torture and ill-treatment. Suspiciously regarded by the government, their demands for basic fundamental rights are also often labeled as secessionists and ignored by the authorities. Moreover, under the government of President hassan Rouhani Iran has hardly met obligations to respect human rights. On the contrary, as part of a strategy to silence human rights activists, Iran’s judicial and security bodies have waged a vicious crackdown against ethnic minorities by conducting enforced disappearances.

Original source

According to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), the Ahwazi Arab population is 5–7 million. UNPO, “Ahwazi Arabs,” Member Profile, November 2017, while the Iranian official 2016 census mentioned the AhwaziKhuzestan population as about 4,710,509, includingAhwazi 1,300,000 in 2016. Statistics Center of Iran, “Statistical table” [in Persian], 22 July 2014.

Arab ethnicity and language are constitutionally protected (see Legal/constitutional rights). However, Ahwazis are politically unrepresented and their language, housing, employment, land and education rights are restricted. Although Khuzestan is one of the oil-richest parts of Iran the income derived from oil production is diverted away from the area. The government has deliberately underdeveloped and environmentally degraded Khuzestan, and many Ahwazis are relatively poor

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