2005 Ahvaz unrest

2005 Ahwazi unrest
Date	2005
Location	Iranian province of Khuzestan
Result	Violent protests followed by a Bombing campaign
Belligerents
Iranian Arab protesters	Iranian police and security forces
Casualties and losses
	5 killed
	another 28 killed in 2005-2006 Ahvaz bombings

2005 Ahwazi unrest or 2005 Khuzestan Riots or 2005 Ahvaz Riots or April 15 Protest were violent protests by Iranian Arabs in the city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan which erupted on April 15, 2005, and lasted for 4 days until the police intervened killing five and arresting more than 300.

Background

The Arabs of Iran are concentrated in the province of Khuzistan and number between half a million to 2 million.^[2] Most Iranian Arabs are Shi'a, but a small minority of Sunni Muslim Arabs live along the Persian Gulf coastline.^{[citation needed]} In Khuzestan, Arabs are the dominant ethnic group in Shadegan, Hoveyzeh and Susangerd, a majority in Mahshahr and Khorramshahr, a minority in Abadan and together with Persians, Arabs are one of the two main ethnic groups in Ahvaz.^[3]

The Constitution of Iran guarantees freedom of cultural expression and linguistic diversity. Khūzestān Province has radio and television stations in Arabic. School education is in Persian, the official language, but use of Arabic is allowed under the constitution of the Islamic Republic. Article 15 of the constitution states:

The Official Language and script of Iran, the lingua franca of its people, is Persian. Official documents, correspondence, and texts, as well as text-books, must be in this language and script. However, the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian

However, some human rights groups have accused the Iranian government of discrimination and other human rights violations against Iranian Arabs and violating the constitutional guarantees of equality. Amnesty International says:

Despite the Arab population remaining largely loyal to Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the central government in Tehran has continued to view Arab Iranians with suspicion. Iranian Arabs claim this has led to discriminatory policies and unequal access to resources aimed at social development.

According to the US Department of State:^[4]

In general the government (i.e. of Iran) did not discriminate on the basis of race, disability, language, or social status; however, it discriminated on the basis of religion, sex, and ethnicity. The poorest areas of the country are those inhabited by ethnic minorities, such as by the Baluchis in Sistan va Baluchestan Province and by Arabs in the southwest. Much of the damage suffered by Khuzestan Province during the eight-year war with Iraq has not been repaired; consequently, the quality of life of the largely Arab local population was degraded. Kurds, Azeris, and Ahvazi Arabs were not allowed to study their languages.

Causes

A forged letter attributed to Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, an adviser to Iran's Reormist President Mohammad Khatami, began circulating on the blogosphere, and was widely circulated by hand and subsequently cited in a report by al-Jazeera network, a popular Arab television station with a big following among Khuzestan's Arab population. ^[5] ^[6] The fake letter proposed measures to reduce the proportion of Arabs in Khuzestan. ^[7] The letter inspired crowds of young Arab rioters to attack government buildings and institutions in Ahvaz city. Some Iran experts and analysts at the time speculated that the move was part of a plan by the conservative establishment to discredit the reformist camp among Arabs in the run-up to the 2005 presidential poll. ^[8] ^[9]

Casualties

Amnesty International has cited "unconfirmed reports" that 29 people were killed. ^[10] However, confirmed news reports and accounts have put the number of fatal casualties at five. ^[11]

Aftermath

The Iranian government officials blamed the Khuzestan unrest on UK which hosts the headquarters of the Iranian Arab militant group "Al-Ahwaz Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front". The government also temporarily banned broadcasts by the Arabic-language satellite-television station Al-Jazeera accusing it of fanning the unrest. Ali Yunesi, the intelligence minister at the time, said those arrested in Khuzestan were mainly "young, innocent people" who had been provoked by "real criminals". Defense Minister at the time Ali Shamkhani, who is an ethnic Arab, was dispatched by the Reformist Government of Khatami, to the Ahvaz area to look into the reasons behind the unrest. He met with local leaders, and he stressed that ethnic Arabs are an integral part of the country but acknowledged that Khuzestan Province suffers from "underdevelopment" ^[12]

Following the riots, in June 2005, four bombings by Arab separatist militants in Ahvaz and two others in Tehran killed 10 people and injured at least 90. Two other bombings in Ahwaz, one in October 2005 and another in January 2005, killed 12 people. In 2006, Iran executed five Arab separatists convicted of carrying out the bombings in 2005. ^[13]

On April 15th, 2011, following the Arab Spring unrest across the Middle East and North Africa, there was a protest by the Sunni minority in Ahwaz on the anniversary of the 2005 events. In a letter written to the UN high commissioner for human rights, Iran's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, stated that "more than 12 people were killed, around 20 injured and tens of protesters have been arrested."^[14]