Country: Iran

Group: Arabs

Date Finalized: 3/20/2023

Team: David Hammerle (lead), Nichole Dahlen, Madison Chester, Stefania Becerra Lavado, Ash Pessaran

Content Warning: ethnic discrimination, physical violence, murder

Approximate Time Period: 1979-present

There are about 4 million Arabs in Iran, most of whom are Shi’a Muslims.  The Iranian government actively represses Iranian Arabs in a variety of ways.  Most of them live in the province of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran, which generates 90% of Iran’s oil revenue, but also has high poverty rates (Ceasefire Center for Civilian Rights, 2018). This is a source of resentment for the Arabs.  The Arabs living in Khuzestan are also called Ahwazi Arabs (Ceasefire Center for Civilian Rights, 2018, Minority Rights Group, 2021).

The Arabs have participated in many anti-government demonstrations and protests.                     These protests sometimes turn violent, resulting in deaths of both Arabs and security forces.      For example, on May 29, 1979, known as ‘Black Wednesday’, the government shot unarmed Arab protesters (Minority Rights Group, 2021).   In April 2005, protestors killed up to 7 police officers and officials and security forces killed more than 30 people while breaking up the protest (Minority Rights Group, 2021).  Government critics estimate that the government killed about 50 people (Human Rights Watch, 2020).  After protests in Khuzestan in April 2011, the government detained, tortured, and executed dozens of Ahwazi Arab protestors.   In June of 2011, the government executed four Ahwazi Arabs for killing a law enforcement official, charges which were disputed.  In July of 2012, the government executed five Ahwazi Arabs, again for charges that were disputed (Minority Rights Group, 2021).  The government of Iran executes many people for the crime of ‘moharebeh’, which means ‘waging war against God’, and a disproportionate number of those killed are minorities, especially Arabs (Ceasefire Center for Civilian Rights, 2018). In 2017, the Iranian government assassinated an Arab separatist named Ahmad Mola Nissi in the Netherlands (Deutsch, 2017) . Ahmad Mola Nissi founded the ‘Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz’ (ASMLA) (Deutsch,2017).  In 2019, Arabs protested increasing fuel prices and the government killed 200 of them (Chapman, 2022).  As of 2022, the government is executing larger and larger numbers of citizens, 110 people in 2021 and 168 people in the first six months of 2022, including inordinate numbers of Arabs. In July 2021, Arabs protested lack of access to clean water in Khuzestan and the government killed at least nine of them (Chapman, 2022, Arab News, 2022). The government of Iran continues to kill Arabs in inordinate numbers into the present day.

The data quality is rated a 3/3 because there was a substantial amount of sources, mainly scholarly sources.

Sources

  1. Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights. (2018). Rights denied: Violations against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran.
  2. Chapman, L. (2022, October 18). Why Iran’s ethnic minorities are bearing the brunt of regime’s violent crackdown on protests. Arab News. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.arabnews.com/node/2182831/middle-east
  3.  Deutsch, Anthony . (2017, November 9). Arab nationalist shot dead in Netherlands. The Independent. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ahmad-mola-nissi-dead-shot-netherlands-iran-arab-nationalist-a8046646.html
  4. Human Rights Watch. (2020, October 28). Iran: Reports of ethnic violence suppressed. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/05/09/iran-reports-ethnic-violence-suppressed
  5. Arab News. (2022, September 29).  Iran using ‘ruthless violence’ against protesters: Amnesty.Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.arabnews.com/node/2171856/middle-east
  6. Minority Rights Group. (2021, February 6). Arabs.Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/arabs/