Report by the
Henry Jackson Society
:
The Henry Jackson Society, concerned with the plight of the Ahwazi Arabs of Iran, organised a briefing discussion with various interested parties on 19th June 2006, in the Houses of Parliament, London. The event was chaired by Graham Stuart MP, with a special introductory speech by Lord Trimble.
The Henry Jackson Society believes that the Ahwazi Arabs of Iran face ongoing injustice and oppression from the regime in Tehran. We aim to highlight their suffering and we think that any settlement with the Iranian authorities must not come without considering both the Ahwazis' future and the protection of their human rights.
The Ahwazi Arabs reside, for the most part, in Khuzestan province of southwestern Iran.
Khuzestan holds a geo-strategically crucial position. It is the gateway between the Arab world and Asia, it contains almost ninety percent of Iran's oil resources and it is the obvious point of entry from Iran into Iraq and vice-versa.
The determination of the Tehran regime to exploit Khuzestan's resources has led to the oppression of the local Ahwazi Arab population, who are subject to abuses ranging from cultural repression to whole-scale 'ethnic cleansing'.
The Ahwazi Arabs, though, may be fated to play a key role in a new democratic geopolitics of the Middle East. In an ideal scenario, their national aspirations, and those of the Turks, Kurds, Baluchis and other Arabs, who make up over half of the population of Iran, would serve as a vehicle for the democratic transformation of Iran.
Addressing the Ahwazi problem would also help to stabilise the coalition position in southern Iraq, by disrupting terrorist networks across the border. The current militarisation of an area of Khuzestan adjacent to the Iraqi border is displacing large numbers of indigenous Ahwazi Arabs living in the area and provides the Iranian regime with a springboard from which to intervene into Iraq.
The 'Ahwazi issue' could also provide a valuable common national project to unite the emerging democracy in Iraq.
Failure to address the Ahwazi issue could carry serious repercussions economically, as well as politically. Supply from Khuzestan's vast oil reserves can only be safe-guarded, in the long-term, by ensuring that the local people are given a reasonable share of the wealth it generates. At present, they are denied an equitable distribution of resources.
Any solution to the 'Iranian' problem must include safeguards for the Ahwazi Arabs.
Links
While the West fiddles, Iran's people... by Martyn Frampton
Re-interpreting Iran by Gabriel Glickman
Safeguarding the Ahwazi Arabs: Essential for a Stable and Democratic Middle East by Daniel Brett
Democracy, Ethnicity and Repression in Iran: The Plight of the Ahwazi Arabs by Daniel Brett
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