tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46584766044648742542024-03-12T23:10:33.178-07:00European Ahwazi Human Rights OrganisationEAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.comBlogger263125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-66375006429759716122017-10-29T13:42:00.001-07:002017-10-29T13:42:17.567-07:0015-year old Ahwazi girl kidnapped by the Iranian authorities <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">World's conscience demanded to move to rescue Maeda al-Amuri </span><span style="font-size: large;">Rights activists and watchdogs are appealing to the universal conscience to intervene to set the 15-year old detainee Maeda al-Amuri, free.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">She was arrested by the Iranian authorities and led to unknown destination in mysterious circumstances. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Several watchdogs including the European Ahwazi Organization for Human Rights, whose deputy chair is Taha Yassin, Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO), chaired by Nasser Kazem, the Ahwazi Organization for the Defense of Human Rights, chaired by Fayez Rahim, International Observatory for Documentation and Prosecution of Iran Crimes, headed by Anwer Malek, Mohammed Gamea, and many other activists signed a petition titled:"Release Maeda al-Amouri. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The human rights organizations expressed deep concerns about the fate of Maeda in light of the lack of information on the conditions of her detention, and the impartiality of the investigations she is subject to, given the Iranian occupation disregards such criteria when it deals with the Ahwazi people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The organizations called for the international community to intervene, for the basic human conditions to be available for Maeda, as well as setting up a committee probing into her whereabouts. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">They also asserted that Maeda should be treated as a minor, not a political prisoner, providing her with the proper conditions of living while in detention. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The watchdogs also stressed that concerned regional and international organizations including UNESCO, should step I to preserve Maeda's right as a minor, calling on international media outlets to raise the issue until the poor detainee gets freed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Time is ripe for internationalizing human rights abuses perpetrated by the Iranian occupation continuously in Ahwaz, which goes against the provisions of the UN charter and the international treaties and conventions in this regard," the watchdogs further stated. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The watchdogs base the accusations leveled at the Iranian occupation regarding the gruesome human rights abuses on the provisions of UN's Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which could open the door for the concerned international watchdogs to launch a fair and transparent probe into the occupation's crimes in Ahwaz. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sources told the Ahwaz Organization for the Defense of Human Rights revealed that the Revolutionary Guards intelligence forces on Wednesday evening, 18 October, kidnapped the 15-year old Ahwazi girl Maeda al-Amuri. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The minor detainee was arrested in front of her secondary school, the sources added, noting the Iranian regime authorities have framed her up with multiple false charges.</span>EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-20976440611315328942017-09-21T16:19:00.002-07:002017-09-21T16:19:38.191-07:00This is what happens to Arab activists in Iran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKyzM8ersh8nv4e3ZL0hDBVy7WBZbhQx-wFvcXGnmHRHipDwydxyzLLjhXcz4RvS0ET-SduIuJUltEMYm1SEHd147GRXrKr3nLzFlQEYqxa4PtPyvcxYMP-gZLn2YyO9EaTsnygJjf_g/s1600/ayatollah_2146641b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The rush to a nuclear deal with Iran has left human rights
issues sidelined. Few people in the West seem to care. They just want to ensure
that Tehran does not develop a nuclear capability. This aim is understandable
but it leaves Iran’s political prisoners, torture victims and persecuted ethnic
minorities with little hope of any respite.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Tehran denies abusing human rights and seeks to deflect
criticism by pointing the finger at abuses by Western countries. Iran’s supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the US of oppressing the black
community. Other leaders have boasted that, unlike the West, Iran has no racial
discrimination. I know different; having been a victim of the regime’s
anti-Arab racism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I belong to the Arab ethnic minority in Iran, known as
Ahwazis. Our homeland, Al-Ahwaz, is now part of south-west Iran. Oil-rich and
agriculturally-abundant, it was annexed by Tehran in 1925 and renamed
Khuzestan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the years after the 2005 Ahwazi Arab uprising against the
Iranian occupation of Al-Ahwaz, the Tehran regime made indiscriminate mass
arrests of an estimated 25,000 Ahwazi human rights, cultural and political
activists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In October 2008, the police came for me. I was a 22-year-old
newly-wed student living in my home city of Khalafiya in Al-Ahwaz and studying
English translation at Abadan Azad university.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The university authorities reported me to the security
services after I formed a student group to raise awareness of the officially
suppressed Ahwazi Arab culture. This was seen as a threat to the regime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">They accused me of endangering national security,
anti-government propaganda, activism against the regime and inciting
secessionist sentiments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was incarcerated in solitary confinement, without trial,
in section six of the infamous Sepidar prison, where I endured two months of
relentless abuse and torture. Only the solidarity and brotherhood of fellow
activists and cellmates gave me the inner strength to not give up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My cell was dank and narrow, measuring 2.5 metres by 1.5
metres. The walls were painted a violent red, possibly as camouflage for blood.
The "window" was a narrow slit through which sunlight would appear,
but only in the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"On one occasion, a guard brought a recorder into my
cell and played a recording of women screaming in agony, saying to me: “That’s
your sister; we’re 'pleasuring’ her because she’s a bitch like you, you Arab
moron.” "<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day and night I could hear the screaming and weeping of
fellow prisoners – men, women and children – who were incarcerated and tortured
there. It was the norm for guards to inflict casual cruelty, such as forbidding
prisoners access to a toilet so that they were forced to urinate in the cell,
which stank to a nausea-inducing extent in the heat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Among other forms of physical torture, I was tied to a metal
bed frame by the wrists and ankles and savagely whipped. If I resisted or
cursed the guards, they would prolong and intensify the torture. They raped me
violently and repeatedly with the large whip handle; so brutally that the rape
did permanent injury to my rectum, for which I still need medical treatment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">During the torture sessions, my interrogators attempted to
extract forced confessions from me; bullying me to state that I was involved
with Ahwazi political parties abroad – a charge that I consistently denied,
since it was untrue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The physical torture, and constant anti-Arab racist abuse,
were accompanied by many forms of psychological torture intended to demean,
humiliate and break me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On one occasion, a guard brought a recorder into my cell and
played a recording of women screaming in agony, saying to me: “That’s your
sister; we’re 'pleasuring’ her because she’s a bitch like you, you Arab moron.”
When I cursed him in response, he left the cell and returned with other guards,
who beat and kicked me almost unconscious before stripping me naked and using
lighted cigarette butts to burn my genitals and feet. Another time, the guards
handcuffed my hands behind my back and hanged me from a ceiling fan. I was also
beaten black and blue with a large heavy belt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In my cell, I would distract myself from the fear, hunger,
torture and verbal abuse by reading the graffiti scratched on the wall by
previous prisoners. One said: “Don’t panic, your suffering is not greater than
Almighty Allah,” while another read: “I am innocent and will be hanged soon.” A
despairing father wrote simply and heartbreakingly: “My dear son, when you grow
up you will come here like your father – this is the fate of all Ahwazis.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Despite the operations, which required the removal of
part of my large intestine, I am still in near-constant pain and suffer severe
digestive and vomiting problems."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sleep deprivation is a common form of psychological torture
that is used against political prisoners, which I was also subjected to; along
with being prevented from washing myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The heat, unhygienic conditions and lack of any ventilation
mean that lice, scabies and infestations were widespread among prisoners. After
just four days in a cell, I began scratching myself red raw to relieve the
incessant itching all over my body, finding lice even in my groin area.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Unlike many other Ahwazi detainees, I was eventually
released on bail of 400 million Rial (about US$13,000); largely as a result of
the serious deterioration of my health. Two days after my release from prison,
I collapsed and was rushed to Arvand hospital in Ahwaz city. I required
emergency surgery for ruptures to my rectum caused by the multiple rapes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The author now suffers from permanent ill-health<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since then I’ve had four further operations on my bowels and
sphincter, in Raazi hospital in Ahwaz and the latest in Servergazi hospital in
Turkey. The severe damage to the bowel muscles inflicted by the rape mean that
I still suffer from stress incontinence. Despite the operations, which required
the removal of part of my large intestine, I am still in near-constant pain and
suffer severe digestive and vomiting problems. My weight before I went into
prison was 70 kilos but now is only 54. I am a maimed man and need to go to the
doctor every week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My trial, which began in early 2009, was postponed as a
result of my poor health. My lawyer, Hosseini Manesh, was successful in
securing the suspension of the proceedings and negotiating for me to finish my
university studies. However, the case against me has never been closed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"I know that if I ever return to Iran I will face
immediate arrest, imprisonment, torture and probable execution."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My severe health problems meant that I was unable to return
to university for many months. I only completed my degree in 2011. Fearful of
re-arrest, I gave up all activism during that period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The regime didn’t just maim my body, however, but wrecked my
future career plans. My record as a cultural activist and human rights
campaigner meant that I was blacklisted and unable to secure employment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In 2011, I felt compelled to resume my peaceful campaigning,
following the arrest of six Ahwazi activists associated with Al-Hiwar, an
organisation which aimed to raise cultural, civil and political awareness among
Ahwazi Arabs by organizing cultural events and free education classes for
deprived Arab youth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All six activists were widely respected community figures.
Some were former teachers of mine. They were sentenced to death on trumped up
charges of terrorism after an unfair trial. This was later commuted to life
imprisonment for three of them and 20 years for another. But Hadi Rashedi and
my former lecturer in Arabic literature, Hashem Shabani, also a noted poet,
were executed in 2014. The charges against them included Moharebeh (“enmity
against God”), Mufsid-fil-Arz (“corruption on earth”) and spreading
“propaganda” against the political system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As a result of my support for these men and the wider cause
of Ahwazi human rights, I was constantly monitored by the regime’s intelligence
services. They put me under relentless psychological pressure, always trying to
find any excuse, however petty, to imprison me again. Security agents would
send intimidating, ominous messages using phones with the number withheld.
They’d demand I come to their headquarters in Romhormoz. I’d be interrogated
for up to nine hours and abused with racist anti-Arab insults such as “Arab
lizard-eater...camel’s milk-drinker...bastard Arab parasite.” They also abused
my mother and sisters as “whores.” I was bombarded with fake accusations, like
claiming I had links with Wahhabi Sunni extremists. There was physical abused
too; including being slapped around the face, and having my ears pinched and my
hair pulled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"The Iranian authorities view me and all Ahwazi Arabs
as sub-humans, subversives and criminals on account of our Arab ethnicity and
desire for freedom. "<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stranded Iranian migrantsat the border between Greece and
Macedonia in November<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Although I was terrified, I was determined that the regime
would not silence me or the voice of other Ahwazis. I continued publicising the
cases of the detained members of Al-Hiwar using information received from their
anguished families. This generated global solidarity for the falsely accused
men.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In October 2012, I was called back into the intelligence security
branch for interrogation, with the officers demanding that I spy on fellow
activists. I knew if I refused that I could suffer the same fate as the men on
death row. I secretly fled my beloved Ahwazi homeland to Turkey with my wife,
where I sought refugee status. Recently, at last, I secured resettlement in the
US.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Much as I wish to live in Al-Ahwaz, I know that if I ever
return to Iran I will face immediate arrest, imprisonment, torture and probable
execution on one or more of the common trumped up charges, such as “acting
against Iran’s national security” or “collaborating with foreign agents” and
“fomenting anti-Iranian propaganda.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Even now, my family still face harassment and persecution as
a result of my past activism. My father and brother were summoned to the
intelligence service's offices in Romhormoz for interrogation. My brother was
dismissed from his job as an agricultural engineer at the regime’s behest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My story is not unusual. The Iranian authorities view me and
all Ahwazi Arabs as sub-humans, subversives and criminals on account of our
Arab ethnicity and desire for freedom. Ahwazi daily life is tainted by open
racism and bigotry. It is encouraged by the Tehran regime, with Arabs being
commonly being depicted as “uncivilized barbarians” and “barefoot nomadic
peoples.” Any Arab requesting equality, freedom and dignity is regarded and
treated as an enemy of the state. Al-Ahwaz is like a giant prison – an
Orwellian hell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am lucky to have escaped. I am alive and free. Many of my
fellow Ahwzai Arabs are in prison or have suffered the hangman’s noose. All of
us who survive have just one hope: We dream to be free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Source: The Telegraph</span></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-90879982549234997862017-09-21T16:05:00.000-07:002017-09-21T16:05:06.555-07:00Iran cracks down on mass protests in Ahwaz against municipal electoral fraud<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhdFpSQKF7fgnIbfWvwh86TUjV4LmiitGh7lJYLIzYMewcqRVtKewc3ZwMjXEi1-O89nU2fa0PqpsrziRkeBNvp_8wKhJlZREn6-W9Bllh70x3Q8HD8V_sA0moBrPPRjxDZE8epD2PvY/s1600/d7c86991-f8bf-4a40-b4b9-d189da90a43b_16x9_788x442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="786" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhdFpSQKF7fgnIbfWvwh86TUjV4LmiitGh7lJYLIzYMewcqRVtKewc3ZwMjXEi1-O89nU2fa0PqpsrziRkeBNvp_8wKhJlZREn6-W9Bllh70x3Q8HD8V_sA0moBrPPRjxDZE8epD2PvY/s640/d7c86991-f8bf-4a40-b4b9-d189da90a43b_16x9_788x442.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Iranian security forces forcibly dispersed mass protests in
the southern region of Ahwaz on Monday and Tuesday against what people say were
electoral fraud in the recent municipal elections.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: large;">People came out to protest against what they say was a
falsification of the results of the municipal elections for the benefit of the
immigrants in the city and at the expense of the Arabs, amid reports of the
arrest of a number of activists and use of violence against protesters,
including an old man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This comes while the director of the electoral office in
Ahwaz has confirmed that there are indeed false votes in the ballot boxes as a
whole, where tens of thousands of votes were copied and thrown in favor of
certain candidates, stressing the need to punish all offenders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">According to ISNA news agency, Khon Mirzaee confirmed in an
interview with local television in Ahvaz, that there is a re-counting of votes,
and that it is possible that the results will be announced on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, officials in the Electoral Commission stated that it is likely to
cancel all election results due to the size of violations, which included about
70% of the votes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Arab activists and members of the electoral committees
confirmed that the votes have been fixed in favor of the Iranian immigrant
candidates and other non-Arab minorities migrating in the city, who are backed
by the authorities, while on Saturday, unofficial results showed that the Arab
candidates won all 13 seats in the council town of Ahwaz.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Arab candidates are demanding the cancellation of the
preliminary results announced on Sunday, which concluded the victory of 10
candidates of Lurs, Persians and Bakhtiari nationalities compared to only three
Arab candidates, even though the Arabs constitute the majority of the
population of the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Arab activists believe that falsifying the elections in
favor of candidates from the Persians, Lurs and Bakhtiari nationalities and
other immigrants in the region, is an extension to the project of demographic
change of the city of Ahwaz and other Arab cities in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">They assert that while non-Arab minorities dominate the
local government, jobs and all decision-making centers in the Arab province,
the share of Ahwazi Arabs in official posts is less than 1%. Migrants also want
control over the municipal council.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Rouhani government has put forward the “comprehensive
security project for Khuzestan province,” which is a comprehensive security
plan aimed at aborting the Arab movement in the Ahwaz region in various ways,
including; suppression of political movements, continuation of the plan of
demographic change and the displacement of Arabs from their areas of residence
and bringing more Persians and non-Arabs from the rest of the provinces and
resettling them in the province of Khuzestan, according to the text of the
document leaked by human rights organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The project, which will be implemented within five years,
from 2014 to 2018, was approved during the meeting of the Higher Committee
supervising the implementation of the project in the Supreme Council of the
Iranian National Security, on 27th April 2014, headed by Abdul Reza Rahmani
Fadhli, the Iranian Interior Minister in Hassan Rouhani’s government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Source: Alarabiya</span><o:p></o:p></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-24027810331341930422017-09-21T15:53:00.001-07:002017-09-21T15:53:59.405-07:00Iran’s IRGC Believed To Be Distributing Crack Among Ahwazis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Q3AeFjvy0Yh2o6CaAKsHE1A5BVypUEu4P_yy7Rvr_K5KTUEoDtL7y69srUUC4m4n7AB_DC7jxyYuZrm4zJle2xg3foM3xpVPdClPa1YizZ2F5_LPa-H8pO3GXI-eH-zuBZnKwBsWxBE/s1600/2017_9_18-iraqi-drugs-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1026" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Q3AeFjvy0Yh2o6CaAKsHE1A5BVypUEu4P_yy7Rvr_K5KTUEoDtL7y69srUUC4m4n7AB_DC7jxyYuZrm4zJle2xg3foM3xpVPdClPa1YizZ2F5_LPa-H8pO3GXI-eH-zuBZnKwBsWxBE/s640/2017_9_18-iraqi-drugs-6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A crack epidemic is devastating the poverty-stricken Arab
Al-Ahwaz region of Iran, with credible reports suggesting that the regime’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) are behind the manufacture and
distribution of the deadly and highly addictive opiate in the region.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></o:p></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Addiction rates are skyrocketing amongst young people in the
region which is already afflicted by massive poverty and unemployment, despite
housing over 95 per cent of the oil and gas resources claimed by Iran since the
military annexation of Al-Ahwaz in 1925.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The IRGC is believed to be encouraging the spread of the
drug in powder and “rock” form as a means of driving the region’s young people
towards self-destructive addiction rather than directing their energies towards
any involvement in political activism against the regime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">According to Ahwazi activists, many crack houses have
appeared in recent years, with police targeting those who report their illicit
activities while avoiding taking action against the drug manufacturing and
distribution networks themselves. Drug dealers openly peddle the ultra-cheap
narcotics on street corners, in parks and in public areas with no effort from
the police to stop them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The authorities’ de facto encouragement of the drug epidemic
has strengthened suspicions amongst activists that the regime, which is quick
to arrest any political dissident or human rights activists and to brutally
crackdown on any protests, is keen to encourage addiction as a means of
pacifying and subjugating young Ahwazis, diverting their energy towards
self-destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Speaking to MEMO on condition of anonymity, a local Ahwazi
Arab activist said that the drugs trade is also a lucrative income source for
the IRGC. He went on to claim the IRGC has established many clandestine labs
manufacturing large quantities of the addictive narcotic. The activist further
claimed that the Revolutionary Guards are smuggling large quantities of crack
across the border into Iraq, adding that the regime is treating young Arab
Ahwazis as “lab rats” as a way of assessing the addictive potential of its
deadly narcotic produce before shipping it to other countries in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One recovering addict, who has been clean of the drug for
two years, said that he first became addicted after having to drop out of
university. “I was studying law. I ended up unable to pay my tuition fees and
had to drop out of university,” he explained, adding that this led to a
spiraling depression which led him to try to numb his pain through drugs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I ended up as an addict for two years. I was sinking into a
total depression and grief because of not being able to continue my education,
and losing hope of marrying my girlfriend. I began buying crack as an escape.
It was and still is very cheap. The drugs made me and everyone else on them
very happy, you’d see life as wonderful while you were high.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“I lost all my appetite. I weighed 113 kilos before I
started on crack. Within a year, my weight dropped to 48. I couldn’t eat. In
the end, two of my younger brothers locked me in a room and brought me herbal
medicines. It was hellish for the first few days going through the withdrawal
symptoms, but after that, I started to feel better, but the effects of the addiction
are still powerful – it destroyed my memory, my teeth are decayed and broken. I
have terrible swelling of my intestines…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He broke down crying for a moment before taking a deep breath, and
continuing, “The Iranian regime destroyed my life. They are enemies of Ahwazi
Arabs. I feel like I just woke up. I will fight. I will never give up.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The addiction runs rampant among women in Al-Ahwaz as
Iranian authorities hide true figures. Despite numerous reports issued by the
local media warning against ignoring the spread of drug use among young
Ahwazis, the trend has only escalated. Now another dilemma presents itself –
namely the lack of treatment and rehabilitation centres to address such
addiction. This vacuum of care only exacerbates the situation and neglects the
needs of those who have fallen victim to addiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today, the issue of drug addiction has grown into one of the
most vexing challenges faced by Ahwazis amid an array of pressing global issues
such as widespread poverty, population crisis and environmental degradation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">According to Iran’s official figures, there are more than
150,000 people addicted to drugs in the province of Al-Ahwaz, though other
sources have estimated even higher figures. Even the lowest estimates show the
magnitude of drug addiction among Ahwazi Arab people in the region, signaling
extensive risks to their health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Faranak Moussawi, director of women’s affairs in the
province, says a frustrating aspect is that an accurate estimate of how many
women are struggling with addiction in the region is unknown. This is due to
the fact that Iranian authorities do not publish official statistics regarding
women and addiction. Moussawi claims that the number of female drug addicts is
no less than one per cent of the region’s total population. However exact
numbers are hard to gather, as most women are afraid of disclosing their drug
use – fearing harsh reactions from family and society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The official says that most of the women who come for
treatment at the drug rehabilitation centre admit that they have only just
recently developed the habit in the past two years, which Moussawi sees as a
sign that drugs are becoming more available in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“The number of women addicts is about 9.3 per cent of the
total addict population in the region,” said Mohammadi, director of the Social
Pathology and Prevention in Al-Ahwaz. “The real figure may be higher than this
because most women hide their drug abuse and are unwilling to report it to the
authorities. In years passed, the percentage of women addicted to drugs was
less than four per cent of the total addict population in the province.
Unfortunately today, the figure has now doubled that,” he added.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mohammadi also believes that secondary schools, industrial
zones, impoverished families, universities, marginalized communities, and
neglected areas are more vulnerable to the threat of drug prevalence and
therefore serious attention should be paid to these locations by the state.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Currently, there is only one centre in the entire region
that provides drug abuse treatment for women wishing to quit substance use.
This centre is managed and financed privately by individuals, without any
funding from the government. The centre, therefore, charges clients seeking
treatment about 600,000 Tomans ($179).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The trade and use of illegal drugs has become a phenomenon
in Al-Ahwaz, where substances like crack, heroine and morphine are easy to
purchase for young people. In many places, it has become cheaper than fruits,
but unlike fruits, drugs are widely available in all seasons. For this reason,
the proportion of drug addicts in Ahwaz, according to some official statistics
is the highest among the younger generation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Iranian regime’s alleged “fight against drug
trafficking” is pure propaganda, as the regime is deeply implicated in both
sides of the deadly trade, says Yaser Asadi, a London-based Ahwazi rights
activist from Iran. While the regime covers up its involvement in the drug
trade with some high-profile arrests and executions, these actions target only
the small-scale drug dealers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the regime benefits from both ends of the deadly
commerce: Inside Iran’s domestic market, the state-driven drug trade nets hefty
profits, while trapping Iranian youth in drug addiction, diverting them from
engaging in civil life and becoming potential political opponents that could
one day threaten the regime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Internationally, the regime earns billions in hard foreign
currencies from its trafficking operations, which helps bankroll the growing
network of toxic sectarian proxy forces that enable it to pursue its
expansionist agenda, inflicting instability and destruction across the region,”
Asadi explains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But Iran’s illicit drug industry is the gift that keeps on
giving, as the regime shores up its efforts to destabilise its Arab neighbours
in general, and the Gulf States in particular, not only by drug-financing for
its proxy forces, bombs and other weapons, but also by marketing its “product”
to youth across the region. Iran’s leading proxy force, Hezbollah, plays a key
role in implementing this strategy on the ground, particularly in states
already destabilised by Iranian-backed military actions. Both the Iranian
regime and Hezbollah have exploited the deteriorating situation in Syria, Iraq
and Yemen to manufacture narcotics, which enable them to continue the cycle of
opiating the potentially militant youth and further financing military
adventurism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
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<span style="font-size: large;">Source: Middle East Monitor</span><o:p></o:p></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-84037472410297685512017-09-21T15:48:00.002-07:002017-09-21T15:48:52.369-07:00Pollution Threatens The Ahwazi Arabs Of Iran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zR8TZbzXE3dWI-LG6wMMHXZoadmWDU1K8JQJiBtZBLXNXVpXStpjioLu4Yew9UmKudEE2yE7inphuAQFLbNZSnWrTun7Xc0S0-QDJxYsk9LI41z3riI1tFSSoRagcVOEXN7VSWtkYHU/s1600/Screen-Shot-2017-08-30-at-9.06.23-AM-770x511.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="770" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zR8TZbzXE3dWI-LG6wMMHXZoadmWDU1K8JQJiBtZBLXNXVpXStpjioLu4Yew9UmKudEE2yE7inphuAQFLbNZSnWrTun7Xc0S0-QDJxYsk9LI41z3riI1tFSSoRagcVOEXN7VSWtkYHU/s640/Screen-Shot-2017-08-30-at-9.06.23-AM-770x511.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Activists in the Ahwazi region have circulated images of
what they call an environmental tragedy affecting the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Ahwazi Arabs live in southern Iran. Activists in the
Ahwazi region have circulated images of what they call an environmental tragedy
affecting the area, including the Falahiyeh wetlands, which are vital for the
livelihood of thousands of Ahwazis.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Iranian officials claim that the environmental disaster
revealed by the photographs has been caused by high temperatures. These claims
have been refuted by Jassim Moramazi, a professor specialising in environmental
affairs, who insisted that high temperatures alone could not account for the
dead fish and the rising salinity of the water. “We don’t know exactly why
these fish have died,” he explained, “but we do know that they have started to
disappear since the oil companies initiated their projects in Ahwaz.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">He asserted that the demographic manipulation of the
environment is the reason for the dying fish, citing experts who say that fish
have the ability to live in such an environment unless it is devastated by
human intervention. The professor added that the oil companies have built
embankments in the marsh, creating swamps in the process. “These greedy firms
want to get oil at any cost. They have devastated the environment.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Environment officials, he admitted, cannot stand up to these
companies. “The companies have their own agendas. And they pay no heed to the
calls for protecting the environment as they are backed strongly by the
regime.” Many fish and birds are destroyed, as well as livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The search for oil is apparently taking place across a much
larger area than has been announced publically. This is approved by the
government in Tehran.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The international oil companies come to the oil-rich Ahwaz
with contracts under the new conditions offered by the Iranian government, even
though the region is already suffering from an environmental crisis because of
the steps taken by Tehran. These include the construction of dams on the
largest rivers in the region. The result is the desertification of one of the
largest agricultural areas in Iran. Sand storms now affect the region, and
toxic substances are commonplace, and are thought to be behind the deaths of
many Ahwazis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Under the Iranian regime’s deliberate concealment,” wrote
activist Yousef Azizi Benitorof on Facebook, “chemical contamination resulting
from oil leakage into the Howeyzeh Marshes west of Al-Ahwaz has caused hundreds
of thousands of birds and fish to die these past few days.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Howeyzeh Marshes are complex bodies of water that straddle
the border between Iraq and Iran. The marshes are fed by a branch of the River
Tigris in Iraq and a branch of the River Karkheh in Ahwaz. According to
Benitorof, “Masses of fish and migratory birds are now floating dead upon the
surface of the contaminated water. The foul smells emanating from the toxic
marshes have caused discontent among Ahwazi citizens, as Iranian authorities
have taken a stance of deliberate inaction regarding the issue.” This video,
posted by the BBC’s Persian, service shows birds taking their last breaths as
they are trapped in the murky water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Chinese and Iranian oil companies involved in exploration in
the area pollute the water, land and environment through their use of toxic
substances that are banned internationally for such purposes. Medical tests on
local residents affected by acid rain reveal serious levels of toxicity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The ecological disaster in Ahwaz has been caused by the
draining of the rivers and marshes, something in which the Iranian government
has been involved for two decades. Agriculture is now threatened in an area
which was one of the most productive in the Middle East prior to the Iran-Iraq
War during the eighties. The damming of the Rivers Karoon and Karkheh is
intended to divert 1.1 billion cubic metres towards the central area of Iran
around Isfahan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That the government is deliberately aggravating the
environmental situation suggests that it is exploiting the situation to
displace the Arabs from their lands. The Arabs in the Ahwazi region are thus
facing an official policy of ethnic cleansing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">According to one Ahwazi environmental activist, who asked to
remain anonymous for fear of prosecution by Tehran, “For many years, Ahwazi
Arabs have lived in nightmarish conditions due to the Iranian regime
intentionally subjecting them to dire living conditions. Examples of such
crimes include, but are not limited to, the regime’s confiscation of Arab
civilians’ agricultural land, forced displacement of civilians from their
homes, and strategic draining of rivers essential to Ahwazi livelihood.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Words alone, he continued, cannot fully describe the extent
to which such “insidious” actions by the regime have impacted catastrophically
on the ability of Ahwazi Arabs to sustain their lives. “This water- and
oil-rich region has been plundered relentlessly by the Iranian regime to the
detriment of Arab citizens who call the land home.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Furthermore, he pointed out that the government’s policy of
demographic change in Ahwaz via the systematic displacement of the local Arab
population is ongoing. “The intentional pollution of the environment from
poorly maintained Iranian oil fields and chemical plants has made it impossible
to live in. Respiratory ailments and health epidemics among Ahwazi Arabs are
increasingly widespread. The careless actions of the Iranian regime continue to
erode Ahwazi Arabs’ ability to sustain their lives.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What’s happening in Ahwaz, he concluded, is a complete
disaster requiring global action to prevent the Iranian regime from displacing
all of the local Arabs by force.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Ahwaz region is rich in oil, gas and water but the
Ahwazi Arabs in suffer from difficult living conditions, not least because of
the deliberate policies by successive Iranian governments which increase
unemployment, marginalisation and ethnic discrimination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Source: Middle East Monitor</span><o:p></o:p></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-78238238103274475202017-09-21T15:43:00.000-07:002017-09-21T15:43:07.267-07:00Local Groups Warn Suicide Is on the Rise Among Iran's Impoverished Arab Ahwazi Community<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpySkFr2S_kk0uWr0KR89aRVaiyenr0eh_gCtRofni7lac9l9p9VTXKfud1eKgvejZh8wza-YbHJ3gJSxCD3k5LApPbKdtCplKDk3DLePN39epw4XAacIcN6xIQE47UcG1k0SsvKu9uvU/s1600/ahwaz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpySkFr2S_kk0uWr0KR89aRVaiyenr0eh_gCtRofni7lac9l9p9VTXKfud1eKgvejZh8wza-YbHJ3gJSxCD3k5LApPbKdtCplKDk3DLePN39epw4XAacIcN6xIQE47UcG1k0SsvKu9uvU/s640/ahwaz.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The self-immolation of a man named Jassim Moramazi on 27
August has thrust the desperate situation of poverty and unemployment for
Iran's Ahwazi Arab community into the spotlight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></o:p></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Moramazi was married with a child, living in the Al-Thawra
neighborhood of Ahwaz in southwestern Iran. He had suffered from anxiety,
depression and shame due to the helplessness he felt about him and his family's
situation, according to Ahwazi rights groups working inside Ahwaz who wished to
remain anonymous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A graphic video shared on YouTube reportedly captured the
moments after set himself on fire. Several people managed to quickly extinguish
the flames, and Moramazi was admitted to Taleghani hospital in Ahwaz city.
Local sources stated that his burns were too severe for doctors to treat. He
died shortly afterward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">His wasn't the only case of suicide among the Ahwazi Arab
minority in August, and local activists are warning of a spike in the number of
men taking their own lives. The Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights reported that
several others — Hamid Maniat, Ali Hazbawi, Sayed Falah Moussawi, and Shahab Bani
Tamim — hung themselves within the month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Their stories shared one thing in common: They were all
family men who felt helpless in their ability to provide for their families
because of persecution by the Iranian government or their inability to secure
employment to provide for their families. Ahwazi Arabs suffer poverty,
unemployment and discrimination<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The region where the Ahwazi Arab community is most present
in Iran has been troubled by a deep economic crisis that has hindered its
indigenous Arab population from securing its most basic needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until a century ago, Arab Ahwaz was a primarily autonomous region
in Iran until the Pahlavi monarchy took over and made an effort to end ethnic
autonomy across Iran in 1925. The Ahwaz region is responsible for some of
Iran's biggest oil and gas fields, and some of the most nourishing and arable
lands for Iran's agricultural industry. Despite these valuable resources, the
region's economy continues to struggle, and the indigenous population see
little of the rewards of this wealth. They are often the victims of untreated
illness, hunger and deprivation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Iranian regime systematically denies Ahwazi Arabs jobs
in the local oil, gas and petrochemical industries. The government has also
constructed a multitude of dams diverting water from Arab areas to Persian
areas such as the Isfahan, Yazd, Kerman, and Qom provinces. These dams have
only served to worsen the devastation from a drought currently plaguing the
region, destroying the local agriculture, fishing, and palm industries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The unemployment rate among the Ahwazi Arab youth has now
risen to 81%. Nour Mohammed Pur, Iran's general director of cooperatives, work,
and social welfare, stated that 5% of Ahwazis looking for jobs have pre-high
school education, 55% of those seeking work only completed secondary school,
and 45% of those Ahwazi job seekers hold university degrees. A ‘systematic
policy…that intends to kill the spirit of national resistance’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Karim Dohimi, an Iranian Ahwazi rights activist based in
London, told Global Voices that the situation of “poverty, unemployment and
racial ethnic discrimination” has led to a “massive increase” in the number of
young Ahwazi men turning to suicide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dohimi said unemployment in particular has worsened
recently, thanks to a combination of large numbers of ethnic Persians arriving
in Ahwaz, and anti-Arab discrimination in hiring practices:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The preference of officials and institutions’ authorities in
recruiting non-Arab workforces deprive the local Ahwazi Arabs of access to
employment opportunities in all sectors. This is a part of the systematic
policy of the occupying regime that intends to kill the spirit of national
resistance of young Arabs, forcing them to search for subsistence outside their
homeland of Ahwaz. There are people who have had to change their first and last
name so as to hide their Ahwazi Arab identity to get hired as even Arabic names
cannot be tolerated in the workplace let alone speaking Arabic or wearing
Arabic clothes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Given the conditions that Ahwazi Arabs are forced to bear,
human rights defenders are sounding the alarm before things become explosive.
It remains to be seen if the world sits up and takes notice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Source: Globalvoices</span></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-41158547062797619632017-09-21T15:36:00.000-07:002017-09-21T15:36:15.803-07:00Iran arrests dozens of Ahwazi Arabs ahead of Eid al-Adha celebrations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_8EpToYA_idp3MY_DGdPjgr0GmIlQ4w9dG0lwRZJZAeRSjLfSufRfPQU0VGoMmyeNz_DcH9zK8RUkwq1pppCXMlDilI5_lquv5uAXJDFz7e1nRPMP8Dr4_x4mWkmGhxrnEKKfXxnXnc/s1600/50897d96-3673-4a53-80ef-95f61dece416_16x9_788x442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="788" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_8EpToYA_idp3MY_DGdPjgr0GmIlQ4w9dG0lwRZJZAeRSjLfSufRfPQU0VGoMmyeNz_DcH9zK8RUkwq1pppCXMlDilI5_lquv5uAXJDFz7e1nRPMP8Dr4_x4mWkmGhxrnEKKfXxnXnc/s640/50897d96-3673-4a53-80ef-95f61dece416_16x9_788x442.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Iranian security forces arrested dozens of Arab activists
and citizens in Ahwaz to prevent marches and celebrations during Eid al-Adha,
the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) said in a statement which
Al-Arabiya.net received a copy of.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">AHRO, which published the names of 35 detainees, said Iran
must commit to the International Human Rights Council resolutions and respect
freedoms and people’s right to peacefully gather and march.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The organization also condemned the arrests which it
described as arbitrary and said these security measures during Eid are a
flagrant violation of Arab citizens’ rights in Ahwaz and a violation of
international laws and treaties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">AHRO called for putting an end to these detentions and for
protecting the detainees from possible ill treatment and torture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Iranian security forces carried out similar raids and
arrests during Eid al-Fitr in Ahwaz and detained dozens of Arabs who
participated in popular gatherings that called for national rights and chanted
against persecution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Ahwazi activists said security forces fear Arab gatherings
during religious and social events as they’ve turned into an occasion for Arab
youths to speak out and demand their rights.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Source: Alarabiya</span></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-69638222826709518812017-09-21T15:23:00.003-07:002017-09-21T15:25:18.608-07:00Iranian Oil Deal with China Ignores Poverty in Al-Ahwaz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCSlIqo9NL1QRPB1XMUbTnmG3xsz2Tgjx50ih0XgxubFiqW4s6cYl4MhwY5eWgD4Ikxhgzpo55CCDhPrqyepe01PW1cHhGigTPdcKrvSbrHhhziP9wvsh8T8afxhngm7CLC9NvehItNg/s400/5808.jpg" width="400" /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On 16 August 2017, Iran and China met in a joint Economic
Commission to discuss China's role in acquiring oil reserves in the Al-Ahwaz
region of Iran, which is home to millions of indigenous Ahwazi Arabs. Despite
living in one of the most oil rich regions of Iran, the indigenous people
continues to live in poverty and fear of persecution under the Iranian regime.
There is concern that China's intervention will continue to ignore or even
worsen the ethnic discrimination and poverty faced by Ahwazi Arabs. This
concern is reinforced by the Iranian government’s refusal to consider the
region’s parliamentary representatives’ appeal for the contracts with China to
include redistribution of oil revenue to the Ahwazi.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></o:p></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Resource grabbing in Ahwaz will be the central theme of the
16th Iran-China Joint Economic Commission meeting, which starts today in
Beijing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Oil is central to the Iranian regime's security. Under
international sanctions, China offered an economic lifeline, raising its trade
to over US$50 billion from 2014 - a rapid change from the US$300mn reported in
the mid-1990s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Oil exports have been the crucial to relations between the
two countries, totalling 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day in 2015 at an
estimated value of US$7-8 billion. Revenue was at least twice this level when
oil prices were high and trade was unimpeded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Following sanctions, Iranian oil exports are booming,
reaching 1.7 million barrels per day in March. Most of this oil is pumped from
the Ahwaz region, the first oil producing region in the Middle East. None of
the revenue is directly transferred to assist with alleviating endemic poverty
among the indigenous Ahwazi Arab population, which numbers four to five
million. As such, the development of the Iranian economy and the stability of
successive regime has always required the impoverishment, displacement and
persecution of Ahwazi Arabs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Iran holds the world's fourth largest oil reserves. Onshore
reserves account for 70% of Iran's reserves and 80% of these are located in the
Ahwaz region. The three largest oilfields in the Ahwaz region are: Marun (22
billion barrels), Ahwaz (18 billion barrels) and Aghajari (17 billion barrels).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">China is in an aggressive drive to acquire these resources.
Last month, Chinese oil producer Sinopec announced it would undertake the
development of Phase II of the Yadavaran field, which is partly shared with
Iraq and currently yields 100,000 barrels per day of oil. Yadavaran is 70km
southwest of Ahwaz. Phase II will increase daily output to 180,000 barrels,
worth up to US$3 billion per annum. Yadavaran field alone is estimated to
contain up to 31 billion barrels, potentially worth around US$1.5 trillion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which owns
oil company PetroChina, is also involved in Phase I of the North Azadegan
project, which is expected to yield 75,000 barrels per day. CNPC has agreed on
a US$2 billion deal to eventually expand daily production to 120,000 barrels.
It is already the operator of the Masjed-e Suleiman field with design capacity
of 20,000 barrels per day and there were pre-sanctions plans to improve
recovery rates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">China is also a major destination for Iran's petrochemicals
industry, which utilises oil and gas resources to make chemicals such as
ethylene and raw materials for the Chinese plastics industry. Iran has the
Middle East's second largest petrochemicals industry after Saudi Arabia. Around
40 per cent of Iran's petrochemicals exports are sold in Asia, mostly on the
Chinese market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Chinese industry transforms the petrochemicals products into
finished goods for export to Europe, North America and elsewhere.
Petrochemicals are used to manufacture car parts, white goods, construction
materials, packaging and electronics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">In the Ahwaz region, petrochemicals complexes produce a
large bulk of Iran's petrochemicals output using the country's oil and gas
resources. In Mahshahr, PETZONE is Iran's first specialised economic zone with
seven complexes representing a total of 40 per cent of the country's polymer
capacity, making it one of the world's biggest concentrations of petrochemicals
production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Chinese investors are reportedly preparing to back at total
of 21 petrochemicals plants in Iran. By 2016, US$12 billion of the finance had
been referred to the Central Bank of Iran for receiving facilities. In March
2016, Chinese investors agreed to back the US$4 billion Masjid Soleyman's
petrochemical plant, which should come on stream in 2018 and become the world's
largest producer of chemical fertiliser.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Consumer products in the West are produced with resources
plundered from the Ahwaz region. Yet, these petrochemicals plants stand accused
of contributing to environmental problems, dangerous working practices and
ethnic discrimination against Ahwazi Arabs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Iran requires a substantial amount of investment to support
growth in its oil and gas sector, with the oil ministry estimating around
US$200 billion of foreign investment is required. Iran is planning to introduce
new oil contracts to achieve the production target of 4.7 million barrels per
day by March 2021. This will be crucial to maintaining the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, proposed new
contracts have proven controversial within the establishment. The constitution
forbids direct foreign ownership of oil resources, but oil producers are
insisting on more favourable terms than the previous buy-back arrangements.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The terms of the new contracts are not yet fully known, but
will include full cost recovery, fee-per-barrel linked to the oil price and
extraction complexity and contracts will be extended to up to 25 years,
including exploration and production periods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">However, the Iranian government continues to cast aside
demands for oil revenue redistribution lodged by members of parliament for the
Ahwaz region. Majlis members have repeatedly requested 1.5 per cent of oil
revenue be held for poverty alleviation and social development in the Arab
populated areas, but this has been blocked by parliament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the powerful Guardian Council - the group of
clergy who determine whether legislation is constitutional and Islamic - has
stated that oil contracts do not need to be voted on by parliament. Ahwazi
Arabs and their representatives in the Iranian parliament have been denied a
voice as China and other nations continue to acquire resources for profit.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Source: UNPO</span></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-48786858886807851762016-08-11T15:08:00.001-07:002017-09-21T15:32:51.499-07:00Rights Groups Urge Iranian Authorities to Stop Executing Kurdish Prisoners<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyM3V4N7wGj8hrje0Dpx3HRaXOH9xMxGnNOLvBVPZSQqsClXJBHoPCovj0Z1dXbA8QR5pl4u7F4jczCYtELgLNSHModKfVLq1ALFW2OZfKKCbYOz7QwLngLY_ULxg7LWXsBSFI0eerBPo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-08-11+at+11.01.41+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="1571" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyM3V4N7wGj8hrje0Dpx3HRaXOH9xMxGnNOLvBVPZSQqsClXJBHoPCovj0Z1dXbA8QR5pl4u7F4jczCYtELgLNSHModKfVLq1ALFW2OZfKKCbYOz7QwLngLY_ULxg7LWXsBSFI0eerBPo/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-08-11+at+11.01.41+pm.png" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Iranian authorities must immediately put a halt to the
execution of Kurdish political and faith prisoners, X human rights
organizations stated. These organizations also urged an immediate moratorium on
the death penalty and a right to due process and a fair and public retrial for
all prisoners sentenced to death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">In the month of August alone, Iranian authorities summarily
executed at least twenty-one Kurdish political prisoners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">At dawn, on Tuesday August 9, 2016, five Kurdish prisoners
were hanged in Urmia Central Prison. One was charged with moharebeh “enmity
against God” for alleged membership in a Kurdish opposition group. The other
four were charged with drug-related offenses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">This followed the August 2, 2016 execution of twenty Kurdish
political prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj and the Iranian authorities
have confirmed their execution. The men were convicted of for moharebeh based
on confessions extracted under torture. They were held for months, some of them
for more than 2 years, in solitary confinement, denied due process, including
the right to a proper defense, and convicted in hasty and unfair trials. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Another six Kurdish prisoners were also hanged last week for
alleged drug-related crimes and in retaliatory sentences (qisas)at the Saghez,
Khoy and Salmas prisons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">According to Iran Prison Atlas, currently out of 915
political prisoners documented, 390 are Kurds. 75% of the prisoners sentenced
to moharebeh are Kurds. Meanwhile, more than 97% of the executions in the
ethnic regions of Iran were either carried out secretly or were not announced
by official Iranian media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, 14,000
prisoners have been executed for drug-related offences, the absolute majority
of whom were Kurds, Balochis, and Afghan refugees. A significant number of
these victims are political prisoners and ethnic rights activists who were
reportedly executed under the cover of drug offenses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">In 2015, Iran was the highest per capita executioner in the
world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">We urge the following actions:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">We urge the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to
Iran to investigate the judicial process and the mass execution of Kurdish
prisoners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">We urge the European Union to call on a moratorium on the
death penalty, at a minimum as a sign of good will by Iran during its human
rights dialogue with the EU. We also urge the European Union to insist on the
right to due process and respect for freedom of religion, beliefs, and
expression, for ethnic and religious minorities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Roya Boroumand, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Kamran Ashtary, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Arseh Sevom<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Ava Homa, North America Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Association of Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran-Geneva
(KMMK-G)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Karen Parker,
President<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Association of Humanitarian Lawyers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Mansoor Bibak,
Co-Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Balochistan Human Rights Group<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Founder and President<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Center for Supporters of Human Rights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Raphaël
Chenuil-Hazan, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Ensemble Contre La Peine de Mort<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Ibrahim Al Arabi,
Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">European Ahwazi Human Rights Organisation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Kamal Sido,
representative<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker Deutchland,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Keyvan Rafiee,
Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Activists in Iran<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Mani Mostofi,
Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Impact Iran<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Lydia Brazon, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">International Educational Development, Inc <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jessica Stern, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Mahmood
Amiry-Moghaddam, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Iran Human Rights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Rod Sanjabi,
Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Iran Human Rights Documentation Center<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Mahmood Enayat,
Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Small Media<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Christoph Wiedmer,
Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Society for Threatened People Switzerland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Firuzeh Mahmoudi, Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">United for Iran<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mehrangiz Kar (Chairperson)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Siamak Pourzand Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mohammad Mostafaei, Director<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Universal Tolerance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Kamal Sido,
Middle-East department<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Society for Threatened Peoples</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-27496442184638945912016-05-27T21:16:00.000-07:002016-05-28T11:52:08.464-07:00Young Ahwazi Arab Worker From Falahiya Set Himself On Fire After Denied Salary For Six Months<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ismaiel Shawardi (Khanafrah), 30, married, from Falahiya, and a worker at Shadegan municipality set himself on fire on 27 May 2016 after being denied salary for six continuous months.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNuPqlCX1GoO7LrSgW1jsOpI9wyE2R8wr_ogJC7v9jB1EgPjJYj3PT85hSdKKGYG8gwrmBhZSg7Zi357rgtbiUg-iMFNRHQkLJoxRlmbxxPU62JrxVi3BZxv0vMbDcWr8SC3urnyGNwpg/s1600/Ismaeil+Shawerdi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNuPqlCX1GoO7LrSgW1jsOpI9wyE2R8wr_ogJC7v9jB1EgPjJYj3PT85hSdKKGYG8gwrmBhZSg7Zi357rgtbiUg-iMFNRHQkLJoxRlmbxxPU62JrxVi3BZxv0vMbDcWr8SC3urnyGNwpg/s200/Ismaeil+Shawerdi.jpg" width="162" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ismaiel Shawardi, 30</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The sole breadwinner was under enormous financial pressure and could not provide for his family. He and other workers went on strike over late payments but to no avail as officials refused to meet them. He can be seen in the picture below holding a banner which reads:</span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong></strong></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><u>"We, the municipality workers, demand<o:p></o:p></u></strong></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><u>our delayed </u></strong><strong><u>four months </u></strong><strong><u>salaries”</u></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Suicide among Ahwazi Arabs, especially young male, has dramatically increased in the last recent years. Families and activists believe severe <u><a href="http://www.unpo.org/article/15469"><span style="color: red;">socioeconomic deprivation and systematic racial discrimination against Ahwazi Arabs</span></a></u> particularly in employment are the main factors:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3dkUmLm_EgmGMuAdofDsr1YmT66NxuKU01nnJ7jOlb6xiX-4dOpj-V6azhaiq9R1VmU_tKxAGa488GhxSRFU7372S1_I2s0-OD2Gz3Ve2UewoTVB2Ke5q2BWsecy1w4ymO_HtePZq-o/s1600/Maashour+Workers+Strike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3dkUmLm_EgmGMuAdofDsr1YmT66NxuKU01nnJ7jOlb6xiX-4dOpj-V6azhaiq9R1VmU_tKxAGa488GhxSRFU7372S1_I2s0-OD2Gz3Ve2UewoTVB2Ke5q2BWsecy1w4ymO_HtePZq-o/s200/Maashour+Workers+Strike.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><strong>Ismaeil Shawardi at protest</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;"> on 17 Feb. 2016<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/29/iran-sweeping-arrests-ahwazi-arab-activists"><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Younes Asakereh</span></a></u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, 34, an Ahwazi Arab street vendor from Mohammara (Khoramshahr) set himself on fire on March 13, 2015, to protest municipal authorities’ removal and destruction of his fruit stand. His death triggered massive protests thorough the province.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> <span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Omid Rashdi Amir, 36, from Khalafiya (Ramshir) died on 23 September 2015 after setting himself ablaze inside the trade union building after being sacked<br /><br />Mahdi Mojaddam, 32, from Chahar Sad Dastgah, Ahwaz, died on 16 April 2011 of self-immolation outside the governor-general office, he passed two days later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hassan Salemi, from Ahwaz, married with one child killed end his life because of unemployment and poverty.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDN88FhmUWQWHo6sNefpZKbTpUCizsll5q_4HYuz2r_md7vnURQrpx-29wDYKJ4OZRujwMPRoy49eY4GcWx7GtAjcd9IY1M-WSei-x7o9k5ru1Rdvbv_n9BmDfv5XSIcChTQmBVD26m4/s1600/shab+Maashour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDN88FhmUWQWHo6sNefpZKbTpUCizsll5q_4HYuz2r_md7vnURQrpx-29wDYKJ4OZRujwMPRoy49eY4GcWx7GtAjcd9IY1M-WSei-x7o9k5ru1Rdvbv_n9BmDfv5XSIcChTQmBVD26m4/s200/shab+Maashour.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="justify">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Teenager from Maashour,</strong></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><strong> cut his wrist next to his late father’s</strong></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><strong> grave because of extreme</strong></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><strong> poverty and deprivation.</strong></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4 October 2015, a teenager from Maashour, cut his wrist next to his late father’s grave because of extreme poverty and deprivation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hamid Sharifi from Ain2, Ahwaz, hanged himself on 10 September 2014 because have had no source of income.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mortada Haydari, 17, killed himself on 4 May 2015 because of poverty and unemployment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mahdi Afrawi, vendor at Naderi street, died on 1 May after throwing herself in front of train to protest his stall's confiscation by the authorities as he and his family had no other source of income</span>EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-59094021366376657142016-05-27T08:42:00.002-07:002016-05-27T09:06:52.067-07:00Two Ahwazi Arab Poets Arrested: One of Them Beaten and Humiliated Before His Family<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iranian intelligence services on or around 25 May 2016 raided the home and arrested an Ahwazi Arab poet Shaker Bawi, son of Eswadi and father-of-three from Kut Abdullah. </span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitXeKZlYvChLJ92t4d8n_SvQrohegyFw6ZPr2bvvdhYvcD0x5FxgKp2hdubQDPueK0qw1WgMvngbRKO9tVwg4PmUTKS8cx_LTU03LSAHUMVq8SfVoE1LPwO0_lOlMCPqW4Aud2CNGh5I/s1600/Shaker+Bawi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitXeKZlYvChLJ92t4d8n_SvQrohegyFw6ZPr2bvvdhYvcD0x5FxgKp2hdubQDPueK0qw1WgMvngbRKO9tVwg4PmUTKS8cx_LTU03LSAHUMVq8SfVoE1LPwO0_lOlMCPqW4Aud2CNGh5I/s200/Shaker+Bawi.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Shaker Bawi: </strong><br />
<strong>Beaten and Humiliated Before His Family</strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to informed sourced he was humiliated and beaten in front of his wife and children while being arrested. His home was searched and some of his belongings were seized by the security agents. No arrested and search warrant were shown during the raid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another poet Ali Matroudi, son of Hashem, from Falahiya (Shadegan) was also arrested earlier this month (May 2016) at the revolutionary court and transferred to Sheyban prison in Ahwaz city after the authorities summoned him and threatened to confiscate his home in Falahiya if he failed to attend the court.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bhMVcidts8RaFhiV9-v1kPgEun09bXkCWZ5zj-Y81PtyLDpd6KQoK1M4Fb6pZzd8uuHTZt6T-6VNuAFvzO30CS8NdMktXRl9EuYBAKMct2FEXV9EFP3KzIvG6AubuPDFX0eywM-cwq8/s1600/Ali+Matroudi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bhMVcidts8RaFhiV9-v1kPgEun09bXkCWZ5zj-Y81PtyLDpd6KQoK1M4Fb6pZzd8uuHTZt6T-6VNuAFvzO30CS8NdMktXRl9EuYBAKMct2FEXV9EFP3KzIvG6AubuPDFX0eywM-cwq8/s200/Ali+Matroudi.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Ali Matroudi:</strong><br />
<strong>Tried and Sentenced in Absentia</strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was first arrested in December 2013, hours after taking part and reading a poem on Arab identity at funeral service of a prominent Ahwazi poet “Mola Fadhel Al Sakrani. He was detained for about twenty day at undisclosed intelligence services centre before being released on bail. After his release, he went to work in Yazd.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to informed sources who saw the documents, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to one year in prison in absentia by a local revolutionary court.</span> <br />
<br />
See also:<br />
<br />
Iran's crackdown on Ahwazi Arab Poets:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://euahwazi.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/iran-punishes-ahwazi-family-for-their.html"><span style="color: red;">http://euahwazi.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/iran-punishes-ahwazi-family-for-their.html</span></a>EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-23344792684240007302016-05-26T14:33:00.000-07:002016-05-26T16:40:25.712-07:00Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Sunni Ahwazi Arab ActivistsPlain-clothes agents from Iran’s intelligence services have on 6 May 2016 arrested a Sunni Ahwazi Arab activist, Sadeq Aal Khamis, aged 37 and father-of-two. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUjcVslbslExQ2HOJT0rS2MhR7rjLb8sdbs5ldNYT4A1HqlDCJU6KvlPPZIbfllEnKTsd7pARZtYtbapXBglsExxfRna8pRKPj7CY7XB-z-RLmGoJ2qeFdf1y7OwRNBXS32uLetTve80/s1600/Sadeq+Aal+Khamis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUjcVslbslExQ2HOJT0rS2MhR7rjLb8sdbs5ldNYT4A1HqlDCJU6KvlPPZIbfllEnKTsd7pARZtYtbapXBglsExxfRna8pRKPj7CY7XB-z-RLmGoJ2qeFdf1y7OwRNBXS32uLetTve80/s200/Sadeq+Aal+Khamis.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Sadeq Aal Khamis: Arrested on 6 May 2016</strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
According to informed sources his friend and fellow <u><a href="http://euahwazi.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/forced-disappearance-iranian_23.html"><span style="color: red;">Sunni activist was also abducted</span></a></u> by the authorities in the same day from his front door at about 5 pm on 6 March 2016 without even allowing him to change out of his pyjamas or take his eyeglasses.<br />
<br />
Two hours later, at around 7pm another group of armed men arrived at his home and confiscated his belongings including his computer, two mobile phones, books, pamphlets and IDs. They did not produce search warrant and declined to reveal his whereabouts.<br />
<br />
Almost three months on, the revolutionary court and the intelligence services including Setade Khabari have refused to acknowledge his arrest or to reveal his fate. <br />
<br />
Earlier this week the following Sunnis were also been arrested:<br />
<br />
1. Saeed Beit Sayyah<br />
2. Jaafar Obaidawi<br />
3. Aqeel Koroshat<br />
4. Rasheed Zabi<br />
<br />
Iran has in recent years intensified its crackdown on Sunni Ahwazis by accusing and charging them, inter alia, with spreading propaganda against the system by promoting Wahhabism, questioning the official religion of the country, producing and distributing deviant books... <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-50107006283558177382016-05-25T20:11:00.003-07:002016-05-26T03:00:30.445-07:00Iran: Two Volunteers and Activists Arrested By the Intelligence Services<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">An
Ahwazi social activist Redha Kaabi, son of Hanash, have been arrested on 18 May
2016 by the intelligence services agents. He voluntarily handed himself in to
the intelligence services a day after they raided his home and took his father
and brother. The Arab social and cultural rights activist was critical of the local
member of parliament and wrote some articles against the poverty and
unemployment in the region.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69KzbenPd4PjsrR4ruNyvVMfWoKIZzrZYGl_aL0d-t35PH8JCfOUahWK8umMFgXHy5HgytaU0kjvTQ-L5lE38lw3cmpXTKbO6djRwsXDsROiEwzJP3BzpiH9A4Q-DcdBficf_vbx1nWE/s1600/Ali+Jalali+redha+kaabi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69KzbenPd4PjsrR4ruNyvVMfWoKIZzrZYGl_aL0d-t35PH8JCfOUahWK8umMFgXHy5HgytaU0kjvTQ-L5lE38lw3cmpXTKbO6djRwsXDsROiEwzJP3BzpiH9A4Q-DcdBficf_vbx1nWE/s200/Ali+Jalali+redha+kaabi.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Ahwazi Arab Activists: </strong><br />
<strong>Ali Jalali (left) and Redha Kaabi (right)</strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Two
days later, on 20 May 2016, fellow activist, Ali Jalali, 45-year-old father-of-two, from Koei
Danyal, Shooshtar city, was also arrested. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Both men
were transferred to unknown location and their fate remains unknown.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">They were in recent weeks voluntarily
helping and collecting donations for people affected by the recent catastrophic
flood, which many Ahwazis, including famers, believe the government was complicit
and it had deliberately flooded the region in order to drive the Ahwazi Arab inhabitants
out of their lands.<o:p></o:p></span>EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-50137216773304497062016-05-23T17:47:00.000-07:002016-05-23T17:54:10.005-07:00Forced Disappearance: Iranian Authorities Abducted an Ahwazi Sunni Activist and Refuse to Reveal His Fate<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">The plainclothes intelligences services agents in a private
car have abducted Mr. Baqer Gholami (AKA Naami) a 36-year-old father-of-two and
Ahwazi Sunni activist from his front door at about 5 pm on 6 March 2016 without
even allowing him to change out of his pyjamas or take his eyeglasses.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7fto_L2kHUj5u1ndArE-4JRm6pRHQcnH4TPQe0TpLPzZJSKLea0I64hxLoWkKMjNNVXJNGG3_pCLShZIwTbaB5Hq-rgf64KXWGcMmnlWme65MgPANNfvjExFMt7yWXPMXbibvEQYlO4/s1600/naami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7fto_L2kHUj5u1ndArE-4JRm6pRHQcnH4TPQe0TpLPzZJSKLea0I64hxLoWkKMjNNVXJNGG3_pCLShZIwTbaB5Hq-rgf64KXWGcMmnlWme65MgPANNfvjExFMt7yWXPMXbibvEQYlO4/s200/naami.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center">
<strong>Forcibly Disappeared:</strong></div>
<div align="left">
<strong>Name: Baqer Gholami (Al Naami)</strong></div>
<div align="left">
<strong>Age: 36</strong></div>
<div align="left">
<strong>Status: Married with two children</strong></div>
<div align="left">
<strong>Location: Unknown since 6 March 2016</strong></div>
<div align="left">
<strong>Crime: Sunni Muslim</strong></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Two hours later, at around 7pm another group of armed men
arrived at his home and confiscated his belongings including his computer, two
mobile phones, books, pamphlets and IDs. They did not produce search warrant
and declined to reveal his whereabouts.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Almost three months on, the revolutionary court and the
intelligence services including Setade Khabari have refused to acknowledge his
arrest or to reveal his fate. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">He had previously been arrested and imprisoned several times
for his solely religious activists, including organizing private group prayers,
reading the Qoran and Islamic jurisprudence. He served at least 19 months in
prison:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Arrested on 17 Feb 2011, and was detained for one
month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was again arrested on 26 July
2012 along with 19 other activist and was sentenced by Judge Syed Mohammed
Mousavi at Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Courts in Ahwaz to thirteen months in
prison. He was also arrested 17 December 2013 spent five months in prison.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Authorities in Iran <span style="color: black;">forcibly disappeared</span> and detained incommunicado
individuals. Mr. Gholami's family say he is at serious risk of torture and other
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Enforced disappearances are defined under international law
as the arrest or detention of a person by state officials or their agents
followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty, or to reveal
the person’s fate or whereabouts. Enforced disappearances violate a range of
fundamental human rights protected under the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, to which<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iran is a
party, including prohibitions against arbitrary arrest and detention; torture
and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and extrajudicial execution.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">Iran has in recent years intensified its crackdown on <span style="color: black;">Sunni Ahwazis</span> by accusing and charging them, inter alia, with spreading propaganda
against the system by promoting Wahhabism, questioning the official religion of
the country, producing and distributing deviant books...</span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-20764430861899343862016-05-18T17:40:00.001-07:002016-05-19T01:29:19.794-07:00Iranian Intelligence Services Used the Detained Environmental Activist's Facebook to Deny Her Arrest and Detention<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Iranian intelligence services on 18 May 2016 used the detained Ahwazi environmental and cultural activist Ms. Zakia Neysi’s facebook account to deny her detention.<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHGOqd-1lpRDhA-hh01v_2jGFSSrQmf3sfr1hx_EEVP0qQOR6mh57_mf2c_E8vmVD6je_KIaL-Bk0E6Lafc-ahWoWA_yklT74GsB-wP43mQy3KQDgQHVWef-FeVORMMWzkmRvh3ZHOX0/s1600/Zakia+Neysi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHGOqd-1lpRDhA-hh01v_2jGFSSrQmf3sfr1hx_EEVP0qQOR6mh57_mf2c_E8vmVD6je_KIaL-Bk0E6Lafc-ahWoWA_yklT74GsB-wP43mQy3KQDgQHVWef-FeVORMMWzkmRvh3ZHOX0/s200/Zakia+Neysi.jpg" width="122" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;">cultural activist Ms. Zakia Neysi’s</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"> facebook account</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> to</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> deny her detention</span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Her family say </span><a href="http://euahwazi.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/iran-arrests-ahwazi-arab-environmental.html"><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">since her arrest</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> two days ago they been not able to contact her and the authorities have, so far, declined to provide any information about her. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The family also believe that her facebook has been used by the intelligence services in order to put pressure and harass the family and denied that she herself had posted on her page. Her father was also summoned by the intelligence services but refused to comply with their request to appear in front of the camera to deny his daughter’s arrest. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://neobservatory.org/human-rights/iran-uses-forced-confessions-against-ahwazi-prisoners/"><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Iran have always forced Ahwazi detainees to give television interviews.</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The intelligences services post on her facebook reads:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIWF2tFUbgs_X6Q3A2VQ5dHzleVlUofTqYF7MLBVM1FqnWTaN-0WiAPAxV0FwY4-TqnEUi7hzziqJu9pxT4DbUorfuA5tNOlrmovMMVEB_YgNadEJMypgvQYqafUZhfvRqgl8F-z7STRA/s1600/Zakia+FB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIWF2tFUbgs_X6Q3A2VQ5dHzleVlUofTqYF7MLBVM1FqnWTaN-0WiAPAxV0FwY4-TqnEUi7hzziqJu9pxT4DbUorfuA5tNOlrmovMMVEB_YgNadEJMypgvQYqafUZhfvRqgl8F-z7STRA/s200/Zakia+FB.jpg" width="111" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“I am Zakiys Neysi and am in full health. I was called in by the “Setade Kabari” (intelligence services office) on 17 may 2016 for an interview on environmental activities and how to pursue them in accordance with the Islamic Republic’s laws. I did the interview with full respect and it lasted for one hour after which I returned home in full health.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I reject the published news by the anti-Iranian and inimical media about my arrest and the seizure of my belongings by the ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, this news are spread by the anti-Islamic revolution ideals persons through my anti-revolution, murderer and hypocrite brother, known as Yaqub Hor and these are total lies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My activities are merely environmental and are in accordance with the Islamic republic’s laws and the I.R. constitution guarantees this right of mine.”</span>EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-24229340184237130392016-05-17T16:13:00.001-07:002016-05-17T16:18:31.462-07:00Iran Arrests An Ahwazi Arab Environmental Activist<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6EVTYGYjtWoIzmbmi_qDh3vFnSDIgmgnyILo7i3UXM-VRqAQS5V5MmdoRzubzbwwNevLUhGCZ9g6vZp1l1dvMJteXzKQFz2sNjmgfX755A2cWUHyHk52VwB2wKcrlumnvu5_q5vRDhk/s1600/Zakia+Neysi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6EVTYGYjtWoIzmbmi_qDh3vFnSDIgmgnyILo7i3UXM-VRqAQS5V5MmdoRzubzbwwNevLUhGCZ9g6vZp1l1dvMJteXzKQFz2sNjmgfX755A2cWUHyHk52VwB2wKcrlumnvu5_q5vRDhk/s200/Zakia+Neysi.jpg" width="122" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iran Arrests An Ahwazi <br />
<div align="left">
Arab Environmental Activist</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">EHARO has received
confirmed information from reliable sources that the Iranian intelligence
services have on Tuesday (17 May 2016) arrested Ms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zakiya Neysi, 26, an agricultural engineer
and environmental activist.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sources said plain clothes security agents,
who did not present any arrest warrant, raided and searched the house and
seized Ms. Neysi’s personal belongings including computer, hard drive, books
and mobile phone. They also threatened and insult her relatives. Unconfirmed
reports said she’s at the intelligences services centre in Amaniya, Ahwaz.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Like many other
Ahwazi Ms. Neysi, , was campaigning against<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2015/apr/16/iran-khuzestan-environment-wetlands-dust-pollution"> <span style="color: red;"><span style="color: red;">Iran’s disastrous and wide-spread</span> environmental destruction</span></a> such as excessive damming to reduce water flow, diverting rivers to
central Iran,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>destroying ecosystems,
drying out of rivers and wetlands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-47706480745498707842016-05-13T11:52:00.000-07:002016-05-13T12:23:57.717-07:00Iran: The Brave Schoolboy Who Filmed His Classmate Being Tortured By Teacher Should Be Rewarded Not Harassed<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb1jCbIKmSY&feature=youtu.be"><span style="color: red;">After a video showing</span></a> a teacher savagely beating an Ahwazi Arab schoolboy gone viral the Education Department allowed the violent teacher back to the classroom.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PnleMn-eHsa3wGbd1FA_iP57WMAeT0NnDQXtdBdyAgxZR_nrtvRGUhQRj0c-LKioWu0oWdNAns6021LE3yQrTi0EO1ntTxgkeywCng-l6HY3rsIMsC0BX5kU61yGfQsI9NNgOYcK22U/s1600/Violent+teacher3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PnleMn-eHsa3wGbd1FA_iP57WMAeT0NnDQXtdBdyAgxZR_nrtvRGUhQRj0c-LKioWu0oWdNAns6021LE3yQrTi0EO1ntTxgkeywCng-l6HY3rsIMsC0BX5kU61yGfQsI9NNgOYcK22U/s200/Violent+teacher3.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teacher, Ghodrat Karami, Torturing<br />
the Schoolboy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><u><strong>However, Mojtaba Dinarvandi, the head of the Education Department in Shoush city, told ISNA news agency “ Having a Mobile Phone
is transgression and the necessary action against the student [who filmed the incident] has been taken”.</strong></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><u><strong></strong></u></span><br />
<u><strong>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Ahwazi rights activists warn today that the boy, who filmed this,
is already facing harassment and might be expelled from the school.</span></strong></u><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Dinarvand,told ISNA news agency that “As result of “of one the students’ naughtiness, one of our colleagues in the classroom becomes angry, loses his control and physically punishes the schoolboy.”<o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The head of the education department added that the teacher were summoned and necessary warning were given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This teacher’s file have been completed and referred to the province’s misconduct commission.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><u>The </u></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb1jCbIKmSY&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">video has emerged showing</span></a>, a violent non-Arab teacher, pictured right side below, savagely beating an Arab schoolboy on his head, neck and face in a classroom at Shariati school in the city of Shoosh. Many Ahwazi Arabs believe teacher's barbaric action was racially motivated. </span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ahwazi sources identified the teacher as GHOLAM KARAMI and described </span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">him as very violent and responsible for many similar incident.<br /><br /> In the video the teacher can be heard shouting“ I will make a real human, bring your hands down you stupid” while the child crying and screaming and asking “what I have done?” (cha ana shem sewi) in colloquial Ahwazi Arabic.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-39913902250525814132016-05-13T06:23:00.001-07:002016-05-13T10:44:13.259-07:00Authorities Allowed the Violent Teacher Back to Classroom After Savagely Beat an Ahwazi Arab Schoolboy <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb1jCbIKmSY&feature=youtu.be"><span style="color: red;">After a
video showing</span></a> a teacher savagely beating an Ahwazi Arab schoolboy gone viral Education
Department allowed the violent teacher back to the classroom.,.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The
head of Shoush city education department, Mojtabta Dinarvand, told ISNA news
agency that “As result of “of one the students’ naughtiness, one of our
colleagues in the classroom becomes angry, loses his control and physically
punishes the schoolboy.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The head of
education department added that the teacher were summoned and necessary warning
were given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This teacher’s file have
been completed and referred to the province’s misconduct commission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><u>The </u></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb1jCbIKmSY&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">video has emerged showing</span></a>,
a violent non-Arab teacher, pictured right side below, savagely beating an
Arab schoolboy on his head, neck and face in a classroom at Shariati school in
the city of Shoosh. Many Ahwazi Arabs believe teacher's barbaric action was
racially motivated. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ahwazi sources identified the teacher as GHOLAM KARAMI and described </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">him as
very violent and responsible for many similar incident.<br />
<br />
In the video the teacher can be heard shouting“ I will make a real human, bring
your hands down you stupid” while the child crying and screaming and asking
“what I have done?” (cha ana shem sewi) in colloquial Ahwazi Arabic.<br />
<br />
Iran ratified its commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
in 1994 </span><span style="background: red; color: #9fc5e8; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.amnesty.nl/nieuwsportaal/pers/iran-20-years-unfulfilled-promises-it-is-time-put-children-first" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #9fc5e8;">but it has done
little, if any,</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> to fulfil its international obligation to protect the
children’s rights:<br />
Teacher’s barbaric, inhuman and degrading action and Iranian state silence and lack
of action constitutes a flagrant violations of the child human rights as stated
in CRC including the following <br />
articles:<br />
<br />
Article 19<br />
<br />
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative,
social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical
or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,
maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of
parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span>EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-23021360509038935182016-05-11T05:54:00.000-07:002016-05-11T16:02:01.635-07:00An Ahwazi Arab Schoolboy Savagely Tortured By His So-Called Teacher<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb1jCbIKmSY&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">A video has emerged showing</span></a>, a violent non-Arab teacher, pictured right side below, savagely beating an Arab schoolboy on his head, neck and face in a classroom at Shariati school in the city of Shoosh. Many Ahwazi Arabs believe teacher's barbaric action was racially motivated. <br />
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Ahwazi sources identified the teacher as GHOLAM KARAMI and described him as very violent and responsible for many similar incident.<br />
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In the video the teacher can be heard shouting“ I will make a real human, bring your hands down you stupid” while the child crying and screaming and asking “what I have done?” (cha ana shem sewi) in colloquial Ahwazi Arabic.<br />
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Iran ratified its commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1994 <span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><a href="https://www.amnesty.nl/nieuwsportaal/pers/iran-20-years-unfulfilled-promises-it-is-time-put-children-first" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="background-color: white;">but it has</span> </span><span style="background-color: white;">done little, if any,</span></a></span></span></span> to fulfil its international obligation to protect the children’s rights:<br />
Teacher’s barbaric, inhuman and degrading action and Iranian state silence and lack of action constitutes a flagrant violations of the child human rights as stated in CRC including the following <br />
articles:<br />
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Article 37<br />
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States Parties shall ensure that: <br />
(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age; <br />
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Article 39<br />
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States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5qbfl3JQ37-bLMw5pLyfUxoofrYsXj0IJgYdePqmI5mfEzu327jIOFBzcvIN2rSSdrNsyABEIp0v5HdVbJZFIDdd9SMGT4u15e41wFEB25_yn6tfyz8tCtAxSlluvyJQ46nnUMICUTs/s1600/Violent+teacher3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5qbfl3JQ37-bLMw5pLyfUxoofrYsXj0IJgYdePqmI5mfEzu327jIOFBzcvIN2rSSdrNsyABEIp0v5HdVbJZFIDdd9SMGT4u15e41wFEB25_yn6tfyz8tCtAxSlluvyJQ46nnUMICUTs/s200/Violent+teacher3.png" width="152" /></a><br />
Article 19<br />
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1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfDeAyPpo6QUq6uEenpmYEGWly9OP3qoXNzHPwq3ulAnhmPKQjSey6ykwIIlzEN7QrL-xLCEAE77Ws6ulwpdkXFZKFPJ0zv6Qd21pjnKjJALNzyq7vsyrHGRXHvR5j04w2waT7vzUgk0/s1600/Violent+teacher2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfDeAyPpo6QUq6uEenpmYEGWly9OP3qoXNzHPwq3ulAnhmPKQjSey6ykwIIlzEN7QrL-xLCEAE77Ws6ulwpdkXFZKFPJ0zv6Qd21pjnKjJALNzyq7vsyrHGRXHvR5j04w2waT7vzUgk0/s200/Violent+teacher2.png" width="156" /></a><br />
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<br />EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-86577618684557369782016-02-21T11:50:00.001-08:002016-02-21T11:51:10.987-08:00Ahwazi Arabs: The Forgotten Struggle for Stolen Rights and Cultural Identity<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMY3dFKjyYCwXiFbWl-XU4byirWELUt-ZElgePqr-0fOKwq1RXe2mSxOnITwT2tFYTKFok4MnukI7AInp20NhSwwrFG90KiHr54sNTm1DLGzkcWA9dCZtVjZ5OfTRrMCSEyFTwQeclFQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-21+at+7.39.49+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMY3dFKjyYCwXiFbWl-XU4byirWELUt-ZElgePqr-0fOKwq1RXe2mSxOnITwT2tFYTKFok4MnukI7AInp20NhSwwrFG90KiHr54sNTm1DLGzkcWA9dCZtVjZ5OfTRrMCSEyFTwQeclFQ/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-02-21+at+7.39.49+pm.png" width="640" /></a>This report on recent human rights atrocities committed by the Iranian Government against the indigenous Arabs of the Al-Ahwaz region.</div>
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The report sheds light on poverty, environment, prisons and courts, racism and cultural oppression committed against Ahwazi Arabs.</div>
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I would like to dedicate this humble piece to the memory of my high school teacher, Hashem Shabani, Professor of the Arabic language and literature. On 27 January 2014, Shabani was wrongfully executed along with fellow Ahwazi Arab, Hadi Rashedi.<br />
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The following are selected sections of his last letter from prison published before his execution, and translated here into English:</div>
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To whoever is concerned about Humanity,</div>
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,</div>
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued humanitarian support and efforts to speak up for the suffocated voices of people, and realizing the rightness, deterring the wrongness dressed up in an image fascinating its viewers while its intentions, which are nothing but a diversion, far from reality and blurring the truth.</div>
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I must thank you again for exposing the evil hands that have for years endeavored to erase beautiful words, turning them into a fateful poison for us.</div>
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I started my journey wielding my pen against the tyranny that is trying to enslave and imprison minds and thoughts; colonizing people's minds before colonizing their lands, and destroying people's thoughts before destroying their region.</div>
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I have tried to remove the obstacles that divided the street (the public eye) from the truth, making folks live in an illusion formulated by the tyrants to design a life according to their will. When the tyrant’s hands spilled my ink, a single word has been highlighted in my texts provoking the rage and hatred in hearts of those men who continue to survive through spreading the darkness; the name of this highlighted word is “awareness.” I have been defending and supporting the legitimate rights of all peoples in the world; the right to live and enjoy freedom and civil rights. Despite all these sufferings and miseries I have not raised a weapon to fight against the oppression that my Ahwazi people are going through it, and I have not spilled the blood of any human being, I have just spilled the ink of my humble pen to fight against injustice and oppression.</div>
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<strong>Introduction</strong></div>
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Given the convergence of regional interests between Western countries and Iran, the world needs to understand the human rights atrocities committed by the Iranian regime that all too often receive scant attention. Iran's crimes against its Ahwazi Arabs remain hidden, rarely reported and never addressed.</div>
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Iran has been systematically waging ethnic cleansing against Ahwazi Arabs in the south and southwestern parts of Iran. This ethnic purging amounts to physical and cultural genocide. The motivation for this ethnic cleansing is the existence of massive oil and gas reserves located in this resource-rich region, although the local Arabs are contending with severe poverty and multiple layers of oppression.</div>
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<strong>Regime oppression</strong></div>
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For years, the Iranian regime has been using its security apparatus and militias to suppress every voice of dissent and intimidating the general public. The situation of human rights throughout the country remains very fragile. Many ordinary people, including women, children and members of ethnic and religious groups continue to face varying degrees of discrimination in terms of their basic rights. The dream of obtaining these basic rights has now completely dissipated out under the current regime, which combines vicious religious sectarianism with Persian ethnic supremacy.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/12027744/This-is-what-happens-to-Arab-activists-in-Iran.html" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/12027744/This-is-what-happens-to-Arab-activists-in-Iran.html">What the Ahwazi Arabs are subjected to comprises a glaring example of the discriminatory and repressive acts practiced by the Iranian regime</a>. For such a long time, Ahwazis have had to suffer from severely limited access to basic rights, most notable of which is the right of education in Arabic, the mother tongue of the Ahwazi people, and lack of access to essential services, such as health care and employment opportunities.</div>
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For more than three decades of Islamic Republic rule, the country has been suffering a horrendous array of human rights violations, namely the upsurge of executions carried out disproportionately against ethnic nationalities such as Ahwazis, Kurds and Baluchi civilians. Along with this there is the policy of widespread torture of detainees, as well as unjust trails in blatantly biased courts, which continue to show a vicious contempt for human rights and particularly for the rights of minorities.</div>
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<strong>About Ahwazi Arabs</strong></div>
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Ahwazi Arabs inhabit in the south and southwest of Iran. They are one of the oppressed people in the Middle East. They are united by race, culture and language. Their Arab dialect resembles Iraqi Arabic dialect and Khaliji (Gulf accent).</div>
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The Majority is Muslim although there are a number of other religions and creeds practiced such as Christianity and Mandaeanism.</div>
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There has been a deep-seated hostility by every exponent of the various leaders of the Iranian regimes against the Ahwazi Arab people, who constitute 10% of the population. Since 1925 with the toppling of the emirate of Ahwaz led by Sheikh Khazaal Al-Kaabi and the invasion by the Iranian regime, <a data-mce-href="http://wewritewhatwelike.com/2015/04/08/al-ahwaz-90-years-of-occupation-and-injustice/" href="http://wewritewhatwelike.com/2015/04/08/al-ahwaz-90-years-of-occupation-and-injustice/">Ahwazis have endured a long history of suffering.</a></div>
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Ahwaz endures “wholesale oppression” with indigenous Arabs living in a fearful environment. Ahwazi Arabs are subjected to severe poverty despite the fact that the region of Al-Ahwaz has reserves containing more than 90% of the natural oil and gas in Iran.</div>
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<strong>Rouhani administration</strong></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/irans-moderate-hangmen-1086690724" href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/irans-moderate-hangmen-1086690724">Despite promises made by Iran's current President, Hassan Rouhani, that there would be improvements for these people, the condition for Ahwazi Arabs and other ethnic groups has not improved at all. The heightened persecution, however, was fully predictable despite Rouhani's smiles.</a></div>
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Rouhani came to power ostensibly as an advocate of human rights and reform, and has been viewed as a "moderate" in the West. He delivered several speeches promising amelioration of hardships during his presidential election campaign. He passionately expressed his goal of upholding human rights and ensuring equal rights for all people in Iran. Instead, after two years in power, he merely became the king of executions. More than 2,000 executions have been carried out under Rouhani, yet the US and Western powers continue to insist that Rouhani is a sincere mediator of peace and stability.</div>
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The overarching focus of world powers has been on Iran's nuclear program. This was pursued in spite of Iran's continued horrendous human rights record. Doubtlessly seeking huge economic benefits of trade with Iran, the world powers have ignored the increased rate of executions and other persecutions aimed at ethnic and religious minorities.</div>
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<strong>Poverty</strong></div>
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Sadly, little has been done to curb or extinguish the spread of poverty among Ahwazi Arabs. To understand the extent and seriousness of poverty, it is necessary to examine and correct the notion that poverty manifests itself only as material destitution.</div>
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Despite the bounty of wealth that exists in Ahwaz, stretching from its north to its south and from its east to its west, poverty is rampant. Poverty exists on every level. Many Ahwazis live in horrific conditions, below the poverty line in overcrowded slums. The streets are narrow and dirty, with open sewers running along them. Many have no access to water, and drinking water only comes in jerry cans. It is no place for children to play or live.</div>
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If you ask them about this, they say ‘In the past, life in Ahwaz was wonderful, not like this’ and children say ‘Unless we collect garbage to eat, we will go without nothing unless we eat dirt, our grandfathers always tell us Ahwaz was a wonderful place to live, but now we see only hunger and poverty’.</div>
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Ahwazis are victims of institutionalized widespread poverty and deprivation, such as, for example, the lack of equal employment opportunities, decent education, health care, housing, clothing, clean drinking water, as well as the denial of their social, political and economic rights. The scourge of poverty is rampant in Ahwazi areas and like a malignant fatal disease hits and shatters and displaces Ahwazis.</div>
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The leading cause behind the spreading poverty in Ahwaz can be attributed to the unequal opportunities and stifling unemployment of Ahwazis. These policies are an integral part of the Iranian regime’s discriminatory policies directed against Ahwazis, who continue to demand their basic rights. The Iranian regime considers the Ahwazis as inferior due to their Arab ethnicity and propagate the mythology of Persians as a superior race. As such, Persians are accorded all rights and privileges and Arabs are denied them.</div>
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Ahwazis continue to live in such extreme poverty and deprivation that many of them have no alternative but leaving their homeland, considering it as the only viable option available to them. Forcible displacement and homelessness is strongly encouraged and fueled by the Iranian regime which facilitates the process of changing the demography of the Ahwaz region. The Iranian regime uses and exploits poverty as a cruel weapon against Ahwazis with the sole purpose of forcing them to leave their lands.</div>
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Unemployment is recognized as an acute problem among Arabs due to the refusal to employ local people in industry. The lack of employment opportunities caused by discrimination have fuelled unrest among Arab youths, prompting some members of parliament in the region to speak out against unfair labour practices.</div>
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Local authorities employ people of other provinces in petrochemical and agricultural companies while indigenous people are jobless due to racial discrimination. Of the top 20 cities for unemployment in 2013, seven were in Arab majority areas, seven in Baluchi areas, four in Kurdistan and just two in Persian-majority areas.</div>
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While Baluchistan has long suffered under-development, the Ahwazi Arab region contains much of the country's oil, petrochemicals, metallurgical and agricultural industries. In Kurdistan, Al-Ahwaz and Baluchistan, the unemployment rates are the same, at 30-47%, demonstrating that indigenous populations are being subjected to institutional discrimination. Actual unemployment rates are likely to be far higher. Official statistics are based on the welfare claimant rate, which is well below the level indicated by standards used by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).</div>
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Arab farmlands have been confiscated by the Sepah forces (Revolutionary Guards) without compensation and are given to those who produce sugar for industry. Environmental destruction has also caused an environmental crisis in Ahwaz, displacing local Arab farmers and ending their traditional livelihoods. Many cities and villages have not been reconstructed since the end of the eight-year war ended between Iran and Iraq in 1988, and thousands of hectares of lands are still contaminated with millions of land mines.</div>
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Children and women in villages in the Ahwaz region collect rubbish to sell in exchange for food. Denied education and the most basic of human rights due to their Arab ethnicity, Ahwazis live in unimaginable poverty and deprivation, and again, this situation is most ironic given the fact that the region is the source of the oil and gas wealth claimed by Iran.</div>
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In 2015, the Iranian government conducted a campaign to put Ahwazi Arab hawkers out of business, even though for many this is their own hope of earning money. Over the year, Ahwazi Arab vendors were blindfolded and handcuffed before being subjected to brutal beating by the regime security forces in public. They were then taken to unknown locations.</div>
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Due to desperation, poverty and job discrimination, there has been an increase in self-immolation in Ahwaz. One example is that of Omid Rashedi Amiri, a 36-year-old married Ahwazi man with children. He was suffering due to unemployment and not having his job contract renewed. On 2 October 2015, he set himself on fire in protest at the Trade Unions office in Khalafiya County and tragically died at Ahwaz Taleghani Hospital.</div>
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Another example was Younes Asakereh, also an Ahwazi Arab street vendor. In March, his fruit kiosk was confiscated; he lost his means of employment and he self-immolated in protest in front of the City Hall and died from his injuries.</div>
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<strong>Environment</strong></div>
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<strong>Pollution</strong></div>
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Ahwaz is the most polluted place on Earth, <a data-mce-href="http://qz.com/136606/here-are-the-worlds-worst-cities-for-air-pollution-and-theyre-not-the-ones-youd-expect/" href="http://qz.com/136606/here-are-the-worlds-worst-cities-for-air-pollution-and-theyre-not-the-ones-youd-expect/">according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). </a>Ahwaz City's measure of air-born particulate matter (PM10) is 372 ug/m3, which is a third more than the world's second-most polluted city, Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar and the only city in the world where average PM10 levels rise above 300 ug/m3.</div>
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Pollution from local petroleum industries and post-harvest fires in the arid fields are the primary culprits behind the high atmospheric levels of nitrate in the area. Pollution is inextricably bound up with the persecution of Ahwazi Arabs and the pillaging of their homeland as the oil and petrochemicals industries pump toxins into the air and rivers and fresh water is diverted from Ahwazi farmlands.</div>
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The canals that run from the dam reservoirs have adversely impacted on wildlife in the area. Native to the Umm Dibs area, the Reem deer, also known as the Arabian gazelle, have seen their numbers drop from 1,500 to less than 200 since the beginning of the dam construction program.</div>
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<strong>River diversion</strong></div>
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The Iranian regime’s rerouting of rivers to non-Arab areas has led to not only the drying up of the Karoon and Karkheh rivers, but to the destruction of the region’s marshlands fed by the rivers. Great controversy surrounds the river diversion program. The government's plans, already under development, seek to siphon off 1.1bn cubic meters of water from the province's main rivers to central Iran. This is destroying the marshlands which serve as an important habitat for wildlife as well as helping to regulate humidity and rainfall further inland. Agriculture felt the worst of the effects of river diversion, exacerbating the effects of lower rainfall; indeed, Iranian scientists believe drought and poor rains are due to river diversion and the destruction of the marshes. The subsequent desertification is exacerbated by severe pollution from the oil refineries and petrochemical industries.</div>
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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has officially warned the Iranian Environment Association that the southwest of Iran is facing a situation similar to the environmental catastrophes that have affected the Aral Sea in Central Asia and the Amazon jungle. The region contains extensive marshes and rivers that support endangered species of fish as well as migratory birds. Ahwazi farmers and fishermen also depend on the waters for their livelihoods.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.grid.unep.ch/activities/sustainable/tigris/mesopotamia.pdf" href="http://www.grid.unep.ch/activities/sustainable/tigris/mesopotamia.pdf">According to the UNEP, the Hor al-Azeem marsh has transformed from one of the biggest marshes in the Middle East to a barren wasteland with soil that is too salty to sustain any plants.</a> The marsh lies at the mouth of the Karkeh River on the Iran-Iraq border and also receives water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Dam projects in Turkey and Iraq as well as river diversion projects such as Iraq's Saddam Canal have decimated the marshland, reducing it to a tenth of its original size.</div>
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Environmentalists estimate that due to Iranian water policy, the Ahwazi areas will be uninhabitable by the year of 2020. Some species of birds and mammals facing extinction in the region and Ahwazi Arabs suffering neurological, respiratory and birth disorders as well as high levels of cancer. The water crisis that hangs over Ahwazi areas has resulted in severe economic hardship for hundreds of thousands of poor Ahwazis, a situation that is not conducive to long-term stability in the region.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://araznews.org/en/archives/4896" href="http://araznews.org/en/archives/4896">The Reem deer, also known as Arabian gazelles, which are native to the Umm Dibs area to the west of the Ahwazi regional capital, Ahwaz, are in danger of extinction</a> in the area due to dozens drowning in the irrigation canals running through the region. Local experts say that the creation of the irrigation channels by the Iranian regime led to the deer being cut off from their main pastures on the other side. Those seeking to cross are often drowned. The canals irrigate farmland that was seized by the government from local farmers and now produces monoculture cash crops such as sugar.</div>
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<strong>Health</strong></div>
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The astonishing level of air pollution has taken its toll on the Ahwazi Arab population. Every year during the rainy season, thousands of Ahwaz City residents are hospitalized for respiratory problems including asthma and bronchitis as relentless acid rain affects the area due to a combination of environmental factors and pollution.</div>
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Life expectancy is the lowest in Iran and residents suffer high levels of respiratory problems and cancer. Contributing factors include desertification caused by river diversion and the draining of the marshes and the oil, petrochemical, metals and sugar and paper processing plants in and around Ahwaz.</div>
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Physical and mental growth deficiencies among Ahwazi children are extremely high, which has been ascribed to the extreme air pollution, including exposure to depleted uranium, as well as water contamination. Toxic levels of lead and mercury-pollution have led to increased levels of congenital deformities and other birth defects among newborn babies in the Ahwaz region, while the rate of miscarriages among Ahwazi women is also disturbingly high.</div>
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These defects and complications have been monitored in increased rates among children across almost all Ahwazi cities, such as Ahwaz, Abadan and Mahshor, while there is irrefutable evidence demonstrating a correlation between the increased number of congenital deformities and miscarriages and the ever-worsening air and water pollution.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/1831/iran-cancer-cases-rising-at-an-alarming-pace-in-al-ahwaz" href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/1831/iran-cancer-cases-rising-at-an-alarming-pace-in-al-ahwaz">The rate of these horrendous medical conditions and rare diseases has increased markedly in Ahwaz in recent years</a> due to a combination of soaring pollution rates due to intensive oil and gas extraction and related petrochemical manufacturing plants, and the lack of clean water supply. This has led to near-constant dust storms and an atmosphere of dust mixed with toxic fine particles.</div>
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<strong>Prisons and courts</strong></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/5150/iran-stands-top-with-over-1084-executions-in-2015" href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/5150/iran-stands-top-with-over-1084-executions-in-2015">Ahwazis lack access to fair trials to defend themselves. These courts are considered among Ahwazis as one-sided and biased. In these courts, Ahwazi prisoners must be mute and are only allowed to hear the list of unfounded allegations before the judge.</a></div>
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Forced confession under torture has been one of the most constant characteristics of the Iranian regime, particularly against human rights activists. This is designed to force Ahwazi political prisoners to confess to committing serious crimes or to implicate others. <a data-mce-href="http://www.countercurrents.org/hamid110216.htm" href="http://www.countercurrents.org/hamid110216.htm">Despite many Ahwazi Arab detainees retracting their confessions during the trial, Iranian courts accept these confessions as an evidence of guilt and sentence the detainees to long periods of imprisonment or execution.</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.countercurrents.org/hamid090216.htm" href="http://www.countercurrents.org/hamid090216.htm">The Ahwazi prisoners such as netizens, bloggers, media contributors, poets, teachers, student activists, intellectuals and human rights activists</a> are almost always charged with seeking to overthrow the regime, threatening public order, instigating sectarian hatred and being in connection with foreign powers, waging war against Allah and corruption on earth. Such charges will be sentenced with capital punishment or life incarceration.</div>
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The Ahwazi people live through constant violations of their human rights. In 2014, the Iranian security forces carried out a mass arrest of Ahwazi protesters, illegally detaining over 2000 people in secret detention centers in which viciously extensive torture has been documented.</div>
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Throughout 2015, Iranian security forces targeted innocent Ahwazi Arab civilians in a series of coordinated mass raids and arbitrary arrests. They were transported to unknown jails and subjected to degrading, humiliating interrogations. The house raids carried out against young Ahwazi adults and college students involved smashing down doors and destroying all household furniture, along with assaulting family members, intimidating women and children and severely beating and insulting the detainees before their families’ eyes, in such a manner cruelly designed to insult their honor and dignity.</div>
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Prison authorities target Ahwazi prisoners for more extreme forms of punishment. They force Ahwazi political prisoners to serve their prison sentence not among another political prisoners but with rapists and murderers. The agents have even forbidden Ahwazi prisoners from having reading materials.</div>
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One Ahwazi Arab former prisoner who served five years in various Iranian prisons for activism recalled his story with painful honesty, disclosing horrifying detail of his ordeal from the moment he was incarcerated aged 17. Problems included lice infestation, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Lice would burrow under inmates' skin and clothes were filled with louse eggs. Prisoners would inspect each other, picking off lice from each other's hair and other parts of the body. He stated that during his incarceration he felt that all his Ahwazi fellow prisoners shared a strong will to live. They shared the conviction that they would survive this living nightmare, even though many were scheduled for execution.</div>
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In November 2015, Ahwazi prisoner Mohammad Hammadi (35) died in suspicious circumstances after spending seven years of his 10-year sentence. He was arrested in 2008 by the Ministry of Intelligence and charged with acting against national security and was tried at the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz. He had reportedly died before reaching hospital and a relative claimed that there was evidence that he was choked to death due to bruise marks on his neck. He had enjoyed good health and did not suffer from any chronic illnesses, but his relatives had been informed he had died of a stroke.</div>
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Some Ahwazi Arabs are killed summarily as security forces move against street protests. <a data-mce-href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/5126/iran-regime-forces-shoot-teenage-ahwazi-boy-dead-for-protecting-his-food-stall" href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/5126/iran-regime-forces-shoot-teenage-ahwazi-boy-dead-for-protecting-his-food-stall">On 9 November 2015, 17y-year-old Ali Jalali was shot dead by Iranian security forces in Ahwaz City's Nahdhe (known also as Lashkarabad) neighborhood.</a> The teenager died while he was attempting to prevent the security forces from confiscating his food stall and the foodstuffs he was selling, which were his sole source of income.</div>
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The shooting followed peaceful demonstrations by residents protesting against orders by the government to shut down popular Arab restaurants and cafés in the district, which were followed by brutal raids by security forces. The closures and raids on the restaurants, which specialized in the popular local seafood dishes and falafel and were popular with tourists as well as locals, were another demonstration of the excessive restrictions placed on Ahwazi Arabs by the government.</div>
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Going in 2016, Ahwazis are concerned with the fates of dozens of activists arrested in late 2015 in the cities of Susa, Quneitra, Shavoor, and Khafajeh under the pretext of attacking the Muharram mourning in Quneitra (Dezful). According to the official Iranian news agencies, even before completion of the investigation and issuing any verdict from the courts, the Ministry of Intelligence, accused the detainees of forming a group called "Jund Al-Farouq", charged them with "enmity against God" the punishment for which is the death sentence.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://bcrgroup.us/15-ahwazi-arab-activists-are-at-risk-of-imminent-execution.html" href="http://bcrgroup.us/15-ahwazi-arab-activists-are-at-risk-of-imminent-execution.html">In addition, security officials have arrested the Arab activists on so-called charges of attacking a Shia convoy of mourning in the Safiabad district in the city of Quneitra (Dezful) at the start of Muharram.</a> Two people were killed, and two others have been injured. In an interview with Fars News Agency, Ahmed Ghahremani, the Public Prosecutor of Quneitra city (Dezful), insisted on the immediate execution of the accused detainees even before the court's decision has been handed down. Ghahremani claims that the detainees confessed to "enmity against God" and as a result there are fears they will be summarily executed, in contravention of Article 37 of the Iranian Constitution, which states: "The principle of presumption of innocence, and no one is to be held guilty unless proved guilty by a competent court."</div>
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The arrests in September and October this year, took place after the detainees were denied the most basic right to make phones call to their family and access to a lawyer. The families of the accused are unaware of the status of their sons or the reasons for their detention. The names of some of the detainees are protected by human rights activists, and will be released after the conclusion of the court. To date, no Ahwazi Arab group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Quneitra (Dezful), and several Ahwazi rights organizations issued statements condemning the attack.</div>
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<strong>Female prisoners</strong></div>
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Ahwazi people have been living under “unbearable” circumstances as a result of the Iranian occupation. Ahwazi Arab women who are incarcerated mostly in the infamous prisons of Karoon and Sepidar, some of them sentenced to lengthy incarceration and the majority are kept in special women cells, remaining under investigation indefinitely even when no verdicts have been issued.</div>
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The state of Ahwazi Arab women prisoners is critically dire. Pregnant inmates have told harrowing stories of medical neglect and brutal mistreatment in Iranian jails that threatens the welfare of both them and their babies.</div>
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An infamous example of brutality against female prisoners was the Ahwazi political prisoner Fahimeh Esmaeli who was handcuffed while pregnant in an effort to degrade her and break her spirit. Fahimeh Esmaeli, like many Ahwazi women, has struggled against immense systematic discrimination and institutionalized violence, land confiscation and premeditated extermination against the Ahwazi Arabs.</div>
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She is a dedicated and well-educated activist who, after the unfair execution of her brave husband Ali Maturi, a political and social activist, has been imprisoned and condemned to 15 years of incarceration and exile to a prison outside Ahwaz. With threats against her life and that of her unborn child, she was coerced into making confessions against her husband to liquidate him like many Ahwazi prisoners. She was seven months pregnant when arrested, subjected to torture and has remained shackled.</div>
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Iranian agents have never shown any mercy or pardon for her as she continued to suffer from deliberate starvation and malnutrition, negligence and physical constraints, including handcuffs, waist chains and ankle manacles. These were a danger to both her and her unborn child. She gave birth to her Salma daughter without any medical aid in a filthy cell. While with her baby in the first days, she was shackled during her transfer (exile) to another prison outside Ahwaz, involving bus rides of up to 18 hours.</div>
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The women’s prisons in Ahwaz which are operating at maximum capacity have serious problems of filth and pollution. Lice and scabies symptoms appear on the skin of many women since they are allowed to shower once a month. The women in these terrifying prisons have been exposed to torture by various means in sensitive areas of the body, beating and rape during the investigation.</div>
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<strong>Cultural oppression</strong></div>
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Iranian governments, whether monarchist or Islamist, have spared no efforts to destroy Ahwazi Arabs and other oppressed non-Persian nations to form a country based on Persian identity.</div>
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To achieve this racist objective they have enforced acute economic, political, cultural, social oppressions on Ahwazi people. Under different unjustified pretexts they have separated many territories of Ahwaz’s geography and then annexed them to the neighboring Persian provinces.</div>
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The consensus stance of the Persian Islamists, liberals, republicans and monarchists towards the term of “nation” is that nation is defined as a homogeneous group of people who share a feeling of common nationality having a sovereign state. So, other people who do not have independent statehood are not recognized as a nation but considered as a series of ethnic minority groups.</div>
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Under such a false and so-called academic definition, the Ahwazi Arab people, along with Turks, Kurds, Baluchs, and Turkmen have been oppressed and deprived of their legitimate national rights including the right to self-determination.</div>
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The Iranian regime, in order to maintain its illegal sovereignty on Ahwaz, Kurdistan, South Azerbaijan and Baluchistan has so far resorted on policies involving denial, deception, distortion of facts, force and repression, killing, and ethnic cleansing. Iranian chauvinist socialists believe that the nation is a subjective phenomenon and a product of nationalism and orchestrated by the bourgeois. Thereby they reject the objectivity of the nation and deny the national oppression and legitimate rights of non-Persian nations.</div>
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The racism against Ahwazis runs rampant. Racist anti-Arab sentiments that are so core to the modern Iranian state since the beginning of the Pahlavi regime in 1925 are often followed by racist acts. These everyday acts of intimidation and violence are allowed to flourish due to the nonexistence of anti-racist laws.</div>
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Akbar Abdi, a well-known comedian, has lately raised the level of this racial chauvinism during a live program on state television. He mentioned a trip with his family to Mecca in which he reacted to an Arab man who requested to get his son engaged to his daughter by saying: “If I can compare the value of my daughter with Gold, I would have to compare Arabs, you or your son, with Persian rubbish.” Television programs and state-owned newspapers for years have been offending and attacking Arabs and Ahwazis are bearing the brunt since racist denigration leads to the justification of genocide, as Europe witnessed before the Nazi Holocaust.</div>
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Genocide - defined as the destruction in whole or in part of a race or ethnic group - is a real threat for Ahwazi Arabs. The Iranian governments aims to change the demographic composition of the region by replacing Ahwazi Arabs with Persian settlers. The increasing number of occupying Persian settlers in Ahwazi lands and the reverse migration of Ahwazi Arab people to Persian areas and the integration of the two nations will gradually leave a devastating impact on the Arabic language of Ahwazi Arab people. The Iranian state, for the realization their nation-building project and formation of a mono-Persian nation have carried out cultural and linguistic genocide in Ahwaz.</div>
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The Persians ruling under the aim of building the soul of Persian statehood and in order to establish a single national identity, have created several institutions, organizations, and ministries. They have created an extensive educational system, and the Persian language has been declared as the official language of education, administrative and non-administrative correspondence, media and press in the country.</div>
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The Iranian governments, one after the other, to promote and expand the Persian language in the country and abroad, have allocated an enormous budget to the construction of universities and schools with Persian instruction. While the oppressed non-Persian nations, including the Ahwazi Arab people, have been denied education in their mother language.</div>
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The media, both at home and abroad, have played a significant role in the oppression of Ahwazi Arabs. <a data-mce-href="http://www.ahwaziarabs.info/2013/11/press-tvs-torture-confessions-by-ahwazi.html" href="http://www.ahwaziarabs.info/2013/11/press-tvs-torture-confessions-by-ahwazi.html">Some Ahwazi families have reported that their detained loved ones have been subject to torture, malnutrition, forced labor and other cruel and unusual punishments before being coerced into confessing in front of the cameras of Press TV</a>.</div>
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The role of the media is to portray Ahwazi Arab activists as terrorists, even when no violent act has been carried out or threatened.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/05/iran-must-halt-hanging-ahwazi-arab-men-after-forced-tv-confessions/" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/05/iran-must-halt-hanging-ahwazi-arab-men-after-forced-tv-confessions/">The Iranian regime uses such strategies through its media in a bid for manufacturing a false and deeply racist narrative to the world that dehumanizes and demonizes Ahwazi Arab people seeking freedom and human rights as terrorists</a>, denies their voice and rights, and presents the regime as the rightful occupier of Al-Ahwaz Arabs’ land.</div>
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Such racist attitudes are common within the Persian Diaspora, including opposition parties, and are expressed through Western-backed Persian language media such as BBC Persian, Radio Farda and VOA Persian. As a result, the Ahwazi cause is deliberately distorted by endemic racism and Ahwazis find themselves alienated and marginalized.</div>
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<strong>The Prevalence and Trends of Persian state- sponsored Racism against Arabs in Iran</strong></div>
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The racism against Ahwazis runs rampant; we can feel that anti-Arab sentiments tainted by rooted fascism is not confined to ordinary Persian citizens, but include a considerable portion of the Persian elite that directly fueled by state politics.</div>
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Monday, August24th is the anniversary of the birth in 980 AD of the great Muslim doctor, scholar and polymath, Abu Ali Ibn Sina (better known in English as Avicenna), one of the great thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age, who wrote all his timeless works in Arabic.</div>
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The Iranian regime chose to mark this date with an annual celebration, ‘Doctors’ Day’, honouring the countries doctors – though only those of Persian ethnicity. The sign shown below, erected to mark the annual event at the entrance of an oil company hospital in the city of Abadan in the Arab Al-Ahwaz region (renamed Khuzestan in 1935, ten years after Iranian colonisation) demonstrates the depth of Iranian racism towards Arabs, including doctors, saluting the doctors of Persian ethnicity while conspicuously omitting any mention of their Arab counterparts.</div>
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This placard is a great indication of the depth of Persian racism toward other non-Persian people, especially that of Ahwazi Arabs. The intensity of this bigotry is shown in countless ways: the regime’s annual ‘Doctors’ Day’ held every year on August 24th, on which the work of doctors is celebrated and honoured, with celebratory events, including seminars, held to mark the occasion – though only for those doctors who are Persian Iranians, with their Ahwazi Arab counterparts pointedly excluded, despite the fact they are supposedly being citizens of Iran. An example of this is seen in the sign seen here, which was posted at the entrance to the oil company’s hospital in the city of Abadan in the Ahwaz region, commemorating Doctors’ Day by expressing gratitude and appreciation for the work of Farsi-speaking doctors, a very deliberate snub to Ahwazi doctors.</div>
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This is only one of the countless daily reminders to Ahwazi people of their inferior status in the eyes of the Iranian state, with such systemic racism towards Arabs having become deeply ingrained in Iranian culture and in the political system over decades.</div>
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This is not the first and will not be the last example of racism against Arabs. Anti-Arab bigotry appears to be spreading to all circles in Iran even those who are considered to work in honorable professions where one is expected to look at the equality of human beings regardless of ethnicity, sect, and religion, political or regional differences.</div>
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This banner on the door of an ophthalmology clinic in the city of Kermanshah, western Iran, is not unusual, “We apologize for not accepting Arab patients”.</div>
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The declaration of the banner starts with a racist piece of poetry attributed to the Persian poet Abu Qassem Ferdowsi (935-1020 AD), the author of the Shahnameh poetry book, which says: “after drinking camel milk and eating lizard, the matter reached the level to which those Arabs aspired to possess the crown of a King. Damn, oh time, Damn oh time.”</div>
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In the center of the banner are two figures: on the right is a man who represents the first kings of Persia, relating to the Achaemenid dynasty ruling in Persia from Cyrus I to Darius III (553–330 BC) and behind him there is map, where “the Persian Gulf” is written. At the left, there is the image of an Arab man, beside him is a camel with golf clubs on his back and there is written in English “Arabian Golf” rather than “Arabian Gulf”.</div>
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The reaction to this blatant racism was reflected in social networking pages by Ahwazi Arab activists who understand Persian.</div>
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This kind of racism is deeply offensive and even more so since Arabs have been subject to relentless chauvinistic behavior and the exhibition of racist tendencies that come to light more and more by fanatic Persian national poets, writers or reporters who feel entitled as writers to spew their anti-Arab diatribes publicly as a form of their own work.</div>
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On Thursday, April 16th, 2015, the Iranian regime and its supporters spew racist anti-Arab slogans in Karaj, Tehran city. “<a data-mce-href="http://www.gunaz.tv/?id=2&sID=79815&lang=2" href="http://www.gunaz.tv/?id=2&sID=79815&lang=2">Death to all Arabs</a>” was chanted by the Persians.</div>
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Iranians took to the streets in various cities and chanted racist and fascist slogans against Arabs after the regime circulated fabricated news stories of two Iranian youths being raped in Saudi Arabia. The claim was denied by the Saudi Arabian government, and the family of the two youths confirmed that the news was false and baseless.</div>
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Despite the clerical regime’s oft-repeated claims to stand for Palestinian freedom, such anti-Arab racism is endemic and encouraged by the regime, with Arabs being commonly referred to in derogatory terms such as ‘lizard-eaters’ and ‘camel’s milk-drinkers’, being depicted as uncivilized barbaric, and barefooted nomads.</div>
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These demonstrations by nationalist<span data-mce-style="text-decoration: line-through;" style="text-decoration: line-through;">s</span> Persians and Basij forces were held in front of the Saudi embassy. Their fascist Aryan slogans against the Arabs clearly reflected their hostility to the Ahwazi Arabs under the occupation of Iran. These same demonstrations are held under the license of the velayat-e faqih system which falsely claims to support the Arab issues from Iraq to Lebanon. This affects the dignity of millions of Ahwazi Arabs who have been caged under the Iranian occupation.</div>
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On March 29, 2011 Iranian sites circulated a video of an Iranian poet named Mustafa Badkoobe as he recited a poem in Persian with the title <a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-yDNMP1ws" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-yDNMP1ws">“God of the Arabs”</a>, depicting the Arabs, stating he refuses to enter heaven if there were Arabs, and that he would prefer to go to hell, which deeply angered and insulted the Ahwazi Arab in Al-Ahwaz. He said that these “Khozaan (Ahwazis) learned the Arabic language and that they know they are not Arab but are actually only Arab-speaking Iranian<span data-mce-style="text-decoration: line-through;" style="text-decoration: line-through;">s</span> converts who should revert to their origins, the pure Persian race”, which was met with great encouragement and applause from the Persian audience who share these intolerant and abhorrent views, but was quickly followed by the widespread wrath of Ahwazi Arabs.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmjLMunv3Pw" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmjLMunv3Pw">Anti-Arab racism is endemic in Iran</a>, having been encouraged by successive regimes with Ahwazis’s bearing the brunt of this bigotry. Both in formal policies which treat them as second-class citizens, excluded from property ownership and all but the most menial jobs. They are denied the most basic of rights through a culture which glorifies racism and casual violence towards Arabs: many of the most celebrated contemporary Iranian poets’ most famous poems are filled with virulently racist anti-Arab imagery and language.</div>
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While the Iranian regime constantly exploits the Palestinian cause (as and when expedient), this mobile game app popular in Iran - in which caricatured Arabs represented in a style reminiscent of Der Sturmer are force-fed lizards then beaten up - gives a taste of the real Iranian view of Arabs, which is fostered and encouraged by the regime. Ahwazi Arabs in the occupied Ahwaz region as well as Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians and other Arab peoples across the region, know the true, deeply fascistic Iranian attitude to Arab peoples all too well.</div>
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This anti-Arab racism extends to all cultural forms, with one fairly typical recent hit by a popular Iranian singer entitled ‘Kill and Fuck An Arab’ <a data-mce-href="http://unpo.org/article/18449" href="http://unpo.org/article/18449">issued shortly after a phone app game, ‘Beat An Arab’ in which the object of the game is to force-feed a grotesque caricature of an Arab before beating him unconscious</a>: both the song and the game were approved for general release by the Iranian Culture Ministry, which routinely approves such offensive material , and is neither viewed by Persian Iranians as being in any way objectionable.</div>
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Ironically while the theocracy in Tehran is keen to present itself as the champion of Palestinians and arch-foe of Zionist occupation, its own savagely imposed the occupation of Ahwazi Arabs’ land is arguably more brutal and its profound anti-Arab bigotry is virtually indistinguishable to that of Zionists.</div>
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Recently an Iranian rapper named <a data-mce-href="http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/iran/2015/08/16/-%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F.html" href="http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/iran/2015/08/16/-%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F-%5F%5F-%5F%5F%5F%5F%5F.html">Behzad Pax released his album under the title “Kill Arabs”</a>, which gained huge popularity among Persians. One song with disgusting and nauseating anti-Arab words incites beheading and wiping out Arabs everywhere. The hatred of Arabs appears even in the songs sponsored by the regime. They come under the government of President Hassan Rouhani, whose office called a few days ago for the normalisation of relations with the Arab countries, especially in the Gulf, and most importantly Saudi Arabia.</div>
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The writer of the song, Behzad Mahdavi Bakhsh, says in the introduction, "I have never liked these Arab eaters of locusts." (It is noteworthy that the phrase "the locust-eaters" is used in Persian, even in literature, alongside "barefoot", "camel-riders", "lizard-eaters" and other racist expressions.) The song praises Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, the external arm of the Revolutionary Guards, and compares him with the legendary King Cyrus of Persia.</div>
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The lyrics say “Qassem Soleimani's army is everywhere”, “This is Iran, o Arab fools” and “This is the Cyrus Army, not Daesh (ISIS).” Others are “I swear by the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf) we will eliminate your name, o Arab parasites”, and “We will decapitate the necks of all of you near Cyrus cemetery in Persia. “</div>
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Then the poet indulges in his threats and says: "If you made a mistake you will pay the price in Riyadh, and from today onwards my name is honoured to be “the Arab-killer'”. The song distributed by the rapper Behzad Pax addressing the imaginary Iranian King Cyrus –who has become a symbol of Persian extreme nationalists–has the following words: "Arise, O Cyrus; it has reached us that we are threatened by the Arabs.”</div>
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Following the formation of the modern Iranian nation-state in 1926, which coincided with Reza Shah Pahlavi’s ascent to power, he formed a team of Persian nationalist theorists with the aim of disseminating negative, racist propaganda about Arabs within Iran. This paved the way for the popularisation in Iran of a virulently anti-Arab culture, with Arabs being collectively demonised and held responsible for social and political backwardness in Iran.</div>
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This policy of systemic racism towards Arabs has continued under successive Iranian rulers to this day, and can be seen in the virulently racist modern Persian literature of the past eight decades, in which Arabs are routinely slandered, dehumanised and grotesquely caricatured in a manner reminiscent of Der Sturmer.</div>
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Iran’s Ministry of Education has distributed a new, deeply racist textbook for children in the Arab Ahwaz region depicting Arabs as savage, uncivilised idiots.</div>
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According to credible sources in Ahwaz, the latest textbook depicts various derogatory images of Arabs, with the cover showing an image of a barefoot Arab man in traditional dress riding a camel as a racist caricature.</div>
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Such crude anti-Arab bigotry and offensive stereotypes are standard in Iranian media and culture. All such depictions, as well as anti-Arab video games, poetry and other cultural artefacts, are closely monitored and approved by the theocratic regime, which actively encourages anti-Arab racism.</div>
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The two pictures show how an Arab man wearing traditional clothes inappropriately, suggesting that Arabs are stupid and uncivilised, like the stereotype carried by mental Persian towards the Arab people.</div>
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The other picture shows Arabic man in a desert with a face like a pig and bare feet that are thought to have expressed a wish of arriving a lush garden and a beautiful waterfall.</div>
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Ahwazi activists condemned this latest expression of anti-Arab sentiment, particularly in the guise of an educational book for Arab children, adding that this is part of a systemic supremacist culture of hatred towards Arabs and all things related to Arab identity rooted in resentment amongst many Iranians dating back to the fall of the Persian Empire at the hands of Muslims and Arabs.</div>
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This resentment has been actively promoted and encouraged by successive Iranian rulers, up to and including the current regime, as a way of justifying their own brutal persecution of Ahwazi and other Arab peoples.</div>
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The Ahwazi activists warned against the perpetuation of such racist policies against both Ahwazi Arabs and other non-Persian minorities in Iran, adding that it could lead to a backlash against not only the regime itself but against Persian peoples generally.</div>
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This latest incident of regime-sanctioned racism follows recent widespread regional anger over Iranian state TV broadcasts of racist slurs against the Turkmen people of Southern Azerbaijan, which led to large demonstrations in Azerbaijan and elsewhere.</div>
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These racialist courses are wandering promptly by the nonexistence of a law that penalizes such pernicious acts in a country. Akbar Abdi, a well-known comedian character, has lately raised one of this racial chauvinism during a live program on a state television. He mentioned a trip with his family to Mecca in which he reacted to an Arab man who requested to get his son engaged to his daughter by saying: If I equaled my daughter with Gold, I would not equal Arabs, you or your son with Persian rubbish.” He described the Arab man with ugly and dirty epithets.</div>
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This was not the first one and will not be the last state-sanctioned stream of bigotry against Arabs and Ahwazis. Television programme and state-owned newspapers for years are offending and attacking Arabs as Ahwazis are bearing the brunt.</div>
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Iranian Fars society is marred by a heritage of racism. Many Fars people forget that they live in the largest arid plateau. What actually motivates racism among Persians against Arabs in general and Ahwazi Arabs in particular along with Kurds, Turks and Baluchis is the misplaced belief instilled into Persians minds that they come from the special superior Aryan race while the rest of other ethnic groups have some inferior racial traits that result in that group being detestable.</div>
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All forms of human rights and liberties are natural rights, and no one has the authority to give them to others as if they were favoured. It is deeply painful to see that a centralised state such as Iran with a petrified and racist Persian mentality has for nine decades been discriminating against Ahwazi Arabs along with other groups based on ethnic and religious differences. Ahwazi Arabs are going through the most anguished of times because of the inhuman oppression of the Iranian occupation state practised against them.</div>
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I do not know how best to convey my views. However I do have some questions for the Persian community who on a daily basis bombards Ahwazi Arabs with racist remarks and disgusting insult; is it in our hands to become an Arab or a Persian? Isn't it cruel and inhuman to discriminate against people based on their identity or the language they speak? Is it up to us to decide to be born Arab or non-Arab?</div>
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All people who have faith in humanity should defend the rights of the oppressed Ahwazis who face political, religious and ethnic suppression at the hands of Iranian authorities. Even its civil community needs the whole world speaking up for it in various international organisations, especially the United Nations, in the name of justice and humanity.</div>
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I do think that every single effort is necessary to raise the awareness of the plight of Ahwazi Arabs. As an Ahwazi young man I would like to mention that supporting Ahwazi issues should not be confined to the political aspect. Instead, we need all forms of support.</div>
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Ahwazi Arabs voices have been silenced by brutal force. This silence is deeply rooted in the generations of tyranny; persecution and fear Ahwazis had grown up with.</div>
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The freedom of Ahwazi people has been long delayed but it absolutely must not be denied or undermined. The ongoing international silence on human rights situation in Iran is in fact nothing more than a lethal weapon empowering the hands of the Iranian regime, the constant oppressor of people in the country, particularly Ahwazi Arab people who see all their wealth being stolen while they are left in growing economic impoverishment and treated with injustice and considered unworthy solely because of their Arab ethnicity.</div>
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People of the world need to come together to support Ahwazis in their attempts to organize events in major cities to expose the Iranian regime’s persecution of the Ahwazi people. They need to speak up and inform politicians, journalists and world citizens together as a collective to force the Iranian regime to stop its policies of oppression and grant legitimate rights to Ahwazis.</div>
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Rahim Hamid is a freelance journalist and human rights advocate who writes about the plight of his community - the Ahwazi Arabs - and other ethnic groups in Iran.</div>
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<strong>Written by Rahim Hamid, Ahwazi Human Rights Activist</strong></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-9538750774108073342016-01-03T05:40:00.000-08:002016-01-03T05:40:42.442-08:00Disease rates peaking in Al-Ahwaz region as result of pollution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Exposures to environmental contamination continued to be a primary cause of health risk in Al-Ahwaz region also knows as Khuzestan in the south-west of Iran. Unclean water, bad sanitation and poor hygiene are the main causes of exposure, along with the continuing air pollution jeopardise the well-being of Ahwazis.</div>
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Residents of Wais County in the northeast of the Ahwaz city warn that conditions there are deteriorating to an intolerable degree, with disease spreading as the Iranian regime fails to provide safe drinking water or the most basic sanitation for the 60,000-plus people living there. With the incidence of cancer already increasing to record levels across Ahwazi areas due to severe environmental pollution, this is one more problem for people already living in atrocious conditions.</div>
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Speaking to Ahwazna sources on Sunday, local activist Khaled Al Tamimi said, “The conditions are absolutely squalid, and it’s become tough to continue living in such suffering.” Like others in the region, Al-Tamimi was in no doubt about the Iranian authorities’ negligence in the area being a wholly deliberate policy, saying, “This intentional negligence pursued by the Iranian authorities has severely aggravated the situation of these people, which is worsening every day.”</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/1713/iran-deadly-sewage-threatens-millions-of-ahwaz-arab-people" href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/1713/iran-deadly-sewage-threatens-millions-of-ahwaz-arab-people">The rudimentary ageing sewage system</a> in the Wais County area is constantly breaking down while there is no waste collection or disposal system, leaving the people exposed to raw sewage and waste-strewn areas. The lack of paved roads and streets and erratic electricity and gas supplies for those homes with access to either simply add to the squalor. This is in massive contrast to the Persian areas of Iran which are fully modern with good infrastructure and well provided for.</div>
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The lack of potable water, as well as <a data-mce-href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/fr/1831/iran-cancer-cases-rising-at-an-alarming-pace-in-al-ahwaz" href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/fr/1831/iran-cancer-cases-rising-at-an-alarming-pace-in-al-ahwaz">the severe air pollution are leading to soaring cancer rates</a>, as well as other diseases, with the latest statistics showing that six thousand people have been diagnosed with cancer in the past year alone. The severely under-funded health care system is barely able to cope with even the most basic healthcare needs, let alone to treat cancer or deal with disease epidemics.</div>
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Ironically, much of the severe air pollution in the area results from unchecked oil and gas extraction in the region, which houses over 90 percent of the oil and gas resources claimed by Iran: despite the massive wealth which the regime in Tehran obtains from these resources, <a data-mce-href="http://wewritewhatwelike.com/2015/04/08/al-ahwaz-90-years-of-occupation-and-injustice/" href="http://wewritewhatwelike.com/2015/04/08/al-ahwaz-90-years-of-occupation-and-injustice/">the peoples of the region are deliberately excluded from its benefits, living in medieval squalor, part of a longstanding policy of systemic racism towards the Arab population.</a></div>
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The most vulnerable members of the population, children, are among the worst affected by the ever-worsening crisis. Talking about the situation in the Weis County area, Al Tamimi said, “The majority of children can’t even go to school as a result of their parents’ fears of their slipping and falling into one of the sewage-filled sinkholes that have spread densely in the streets here.”</div>
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He continued, “These deep pits are created by the municipal water authorities and the sewage authorities; from time to time, they dig up the streets to repair the sewage system, then they stop and abandon the work unfinished forever, so the population live in this plight, facing massive health and environmental risks. The smell from these sewage-filled holes is nauseating, and our children have got skin diseases due to the appearance of vicious insects, including mosquitoes.”</div>
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Al Tamimi continued, “The residents’ suffering has increased with the onset of winter and the heavy rainfall, which has led to the sewage flooding the unpaved streets, turning them into a foul “large swamp”, which also obstructs the coming and going of pedestrians and vehicles.” “Despite of the vast natural resources of Ahwaz, namely oil, natural gas and agricultural produce, Ahwazi citizens suffer from massive poverty and deprivation.”</div>
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“<a data-mce-href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/1738/iran-extreme-poverty-causes-rise-in-suicide-rates-among-ahwazi-arabs" href="http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/1738/iran-extreme-poverty-causes-rise-in-suicide-rates-among-ahwazi-arabs">Most Ahwazi villages exist in abject poverty and deprivation, lacking the most basic of urban services</a>.</div>
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Ahwazi students are required travel long distances of up to 15 kilometers in order to attend school, even though they live in areas generating vast amounts of wealth through oil wells, oil installations, and pipelines.”</div>
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In addition, in recent days, a chronic epidemic in the neighborhood Malashiya has led to the death of two children and adversely affected several others.</div>
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An unknown disease has spread in the neighborhood Malashiya, west of the capital of Ahwaz, resulting in the death of two girls, yet government health care centers evade performing their duties.</div>
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The signs of infection are severe nausea and vomiting, which ultimately leads to the death of children if not treated properly and in time.</div>
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The health care center in the neighborhood of Malashiya is unable to treat the children due to a lack of the equipment and medicines required for treatment of the affected children.</div>
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Local activists say that the presence of waste in the streets of the neighborhood, as well as the overflow of sewage, and the failure of health care centers and institutions to perform their duties are the main reasons leading to the spread of epidemics in the neighborhood of Malashiya and other slums.</div>
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Furthermore, thirty Ahwazi Arabs have reportedly died so far of swine flu, with doctors at hospitals in the region warning that the actual death toll is probably higher since Iranian authorities are deliberately minimising the casualty numbers in order to avoid any outbreaks of public unrest.</div>
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According to medical sources in Ahwaz, Iranian authorities have failed to take the necessary preventive measures to halt the spread of the epidemic, putting the people of the region at further grave risk.</div>
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The disease initially appeared in the cities of Abadan, Falahiyeh, Khafajeh and Hamidieh before spreading to another town, Quneitra (Dezful).</div>
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Medics are warning that the massive overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions in which Ahwazi Arabs are deliberately maintained by the regime are hastening the infection rates, with large numbers of people already hospitalised due to contracting the disease. Head of the Centre for Infectious Diseases in Iran stated that so far 1 190 people were infected and at least 112 people died because of the swine flu within the recent three months in Al-Ahwaz, Kerman and Baluchistan provinces.</div>
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Additionally, the spread of infectious leishmaniasis disease in Ahwazi areas and doctors warn of dire consequences.</div>
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Ahwazi informed sources reported that a dangerous skin disease has spread in the city of Khafajiyeh in Al-Ahwaz region, which knows as leishmaniasis.</div>
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The sources added that the cause of the spread is due to water pollution and the overflow of sewage in the streets, most especially when it rains.</div>
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Ahwazi reliable sources confirmed that the sewage network in the city of Khafajiyeh is old, rundown and suffers from many problems and it is not able to accommodate the vast amount of sewage to transport it to estuaries.</div>
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One of Ahwazi citizens says that "the city of Khafajiyeh suffers from many problems, and people are stripped of their most basic rights notably in health and education services." "Despite the spread of leishmaniasis disease in the city, the authorities and its private health services did not care and did not develop a plan to confront this cutaneous disease."</div>
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In recent months, there has been a drastic surge of cutaneous leishmaniasis among Ahwazi Arab residents in Susa city. According to “AGZAR” news agency, a double increase of people infected with cutaneous leishmaniasis has forced doctors to express their grave concerns about this contagious disease.</div>
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A general practitioner in conversation with the AGZAR reporter said from the beginning of the year till to date. Unfortunately, the number of visitors infected with “Cutaneous Leishmaniasis” has sharply increased in Susa city.</div>
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The doctor, who asked not to be named, warned that the existence of large amounts of construction debris and poor conditions of urban wastewater have become a conducive breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies that are the major disease carriers.</div>
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He added that the cutaneous Leishmaniasis contained two types of urban and rural. In the village, weasels and rats are the disease carriers, and it transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. In the city, the disease through mosquitoes that exist around the construction debris and sewage waste transmitted to humans.</div>
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The officials have not yet taken any steps to address this situation and neglected the Ahwazi Arab residents to experience more sufferings and pains.</div>
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The pollution of water and the Diversion Rivers to other parts of Iran, the growing rate of unemployment, divorce and migration of educated peoples are among the major problems facing Ahwazis, and it is up to government officials to find solutions to these problems so as to avoid future crises.</div>
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Many Ahwazi students travel long distances, up to 15 kilometers, to go to school, even though they live in areas where many oil pipeline exists and there are many oil wells.</div>
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Many of the villages are adjacent to the oil and petrochemical facilities; however, most of them are living in poverty, deprivation and live in areas that lack urban services and employment possibilities.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ix4_NsqI8" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ix4_NsqI8">The pollution of water and the transfer of clean water to other parts of Iran</a>, as well as increasing rates of unemployment, divorce and the migration of the Ahwazi elites, are the major problems faced by Ahwazis. The Ahwazis despite occupying an area that contains about 90% of Iran’s oil reserves, <a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxiQbE5rCuc" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxiQbE5rCuc">they have consistently been ignored and live in some of the gravest economic conditions in Iran.</a> Not only are economic opportunities limited, but the Ahwazis have also endured more suffering and misery after the diversion of their freshwater sources to central Iran, leaving their region in severe drought.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izRhwv691NI" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izRhwv691NI">It is a crime in the Iran to write about the lack of basic rights to a decent existence for the Ahwazi people who live below the poverty line</a>, while their land is teeming with natural resources such as oil, natural gas, mining stone and running water? All remain inaccessible to the people of Ahwaz, including the right to clean drinking water.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAwSX8-mD5k" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAwSX8-mD5k">Where is the justice when the Ahwaz region, the so-called heart of Iran's economy, is considered one of the poorest regions in Iran</a>? One has only to visit the out-patient department in hospitals in the Ahwaz to find them filled with patients suffering from cancer and other pollution related chronic lung diseases.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.ahwaziarabs.info/2013/03/ahwaz-confirmed-most-polluted-city-on.html" href="http://www.ahwaziarabs.info/2013/03/ahwaz-confirmed-most-polluted-city-on.html">From 2003 to date, the climate in Ahwaz has dramatically deteriorated due to air pollution</a> caused by Iran's industrial activities in Ahwaz. Ahwaz is one of the most polluted areas in Iran and the larger Middle East, and it is an area where there is a visible increase in the number of people dying from pollution related diseases. It is crucial that solutions to these problems are found, so as to avoid future crises and the worsening of what is a very desperate situation for so many of Ahwazis.</div>
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<strong>Written by Rahim Hamid</strong></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-28820308107422268622015-12-12T16:21:00.000-08:002015-12-12T17:35:20.778-08:00Another Ahwazi child critically injured by Iran war legacy<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhYVGLKHflAkcya4edbGJPXjncN50cyS72jo5vmnpzDn6zHnBx3dIl9iGqI1zIzw_JmSotFpV0gQseKlQzYedW7Qu63B-FabhA6NeHyX5-f-UfZD9Ooup1WNI09b0vJLKTZvoZUrLweg/s1600/12345397_790953804361363_2286340452447973562_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhYVGLKHflAkcya4edbGJPXjncN50cyS72jo5vmnpzDn6zHnBx3dIl9iGqI1zIzw_JmSotFpV0gQseKlQzYedW7Qu63B-FabhA6NeHyX5-f-UfZD9Ooup1WNI09b0vJLKTZvoZUrLweg/s320/12345397_790953804361363_2286340452447973562_n.jpg" width="179" /></a>An 11-year-old Ahwazi Arab boy named Hamzeh Obeidawi was severely injured in the city of Ahwaz on Thursday (December 10) when a landmine carelessly dumped by Iranian troops outside a nearby regime military camp blew up while he was playing football with friends in a neighbouring playground.</div>
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Although the parents of the injured boy, from the Sayahi neighbourhood of Ahwaz, immediately rushed him to the nearby Karami hospital, staff there refused to admit him since his parents could not afford to pay for medical treatment, despite the fact that he was severely injured. Thankfully his parents managed to rush him to Golestan Hospital where he remains in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJZpBKwtz-dikFS-ijUULsEk6_rn_JrO0tnyHn1dD8ZpdnRdWsZ_1czLOrybVo4CMGnRQDRDKNfEl0rlu4tckBR5VRtm6-Wdh-l4CO7EB3U-q8tkoWqan5uf7HE4QD8TPZrvvhQmXrXs/s1600/12373404_790953794361364_8690001939847342637_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJZpBKwtz-dikFS-ijUULsEk6_rn_JrO0tnyHn1dD8ZpdnRdWsZ_1czLOrybVo4CMGnRQDRDKNfEl0rlu4tckBR5VRtm6-Wdh-l4CO7EB3U-q8tkoWqan5uf7HE4QD8TPZrvvhQmXrXs/s320/12373404_790953794361364_8690001939847342637_n.jpg" width="179" /></a>Many Ahwazi children, as well as adults, have had to undergo amputations as a result of explosions from landmines left in the area near the camp in a similarly negligent manner by the regime military, many of these leftovers from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. The Iranian regime has not yet taken any measures to clean up the region of the mines.</div>
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Despite the fact that the Ahwaz region houses over 90 percent of the oil and gas resources claimed by Iran, its people are denied any of the wealth or benefits and deliberately maintained in grinding poverty, part of a policy of systemic anti-Arab racism adopted by successive Iranian regimes since Ahwaz was first occupied in 1925.</div>
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<strong>Source: Rahim Hamid, Ahwazi human rights activist</strong></div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-26180811376143281172015-12-07T17:04:00.002-08:002015-12-07T17:04:57.523-08:00Iran’s Ministry of Education issues textbooks with stereotypically derogatory depictions of Arabs<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4x77hIOPo2Sd7NBBKaluaPQshHouXw2aBEp-hQsZ3lle-4vHAPVHBDdS3Vv1wvg4KRuQJ_iiV1ZYHq3klWp_I7A6T7tsBvE8ctH3eND2QOdKUyh64B05bdzCJ8Th7qV-qO4KIYDtXqsU/s1600/textbook-ahw-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4x77hIOPo2Sd7NBBKaluaPQshHouXw2aBEp-hQsZ3lle-4vHAPVHBDdS3Vv1wvg4KRuQJ_iiV1ZYHq3klWp_I7A6T7tsBvE8ctH3eND2QOdKUyh64B05bdzCJ8Th7qV-qO4KIYDtXqsU/s320/textbook-ahw-2.jpg" width="230" /></a>Iran’s Ministry of Education has distributed a new, deeply racist textbook for children in the Arab Ahwaz region depicting Arabs as savage, uncivilised idiots.</div>
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According to credible sources in Ahwaz, the latest textbook (cover shown at left) depicts various derogatory images of Arabs, with the cover showing an image of an Arab man on camel, wearing traditional dress in the desert, certainly intended as a racist caricature.</div>
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Such crude anti-Arab bigotry and offensive stereotypes are standard in Iranian media and culture. All such depictions, as well as anti-Arab video games, poetry and other cultural artefacts, are closely monitored and approved by the theocratic regime, which actively encourages anti-Arab racism.</div>
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The two pictures show how an Arab man wearing traditional clothes inappropriately, suggesting that Arabs are stupid and uncivilised, like the stereotype carried in the popular Persian whenever Arabs are shown.</div>
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Another textbook shows an Arabic man, again riding a camel in a desert with a dirty face, piglike nose and bare feet, eating something with his finger and only dreaming of arriving at a lush garden and a beautiful waterfall.</div>
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Ahwazi activists have condemned this latest expression of anti-Arab sentiment, particularly in the guise of an educational book for Arab children, adding that this is part of a systemic supremacist culture of hatred towards Arabs and all things related to Arab identity rooted in resentment amongst many Iranians dating back to the fall of the Persian Empire at the hands of Muslims and Arabs.</div>
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This resentment has been actively promoted and encouraged by successive Iranian rulers, up to and including the current regime, as a way of justifying their own brutal persecution of Ahwazi and other Arab peoples.</div>
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The Ahwazi activists warned against the perpetuation of such racist policies against both Ahwazi Arabs and other non-Persian minorities in Iran, adding that it could lead to a backlash against not only the regime itself but against Persian peoples generally.</div>
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This latest incident of regime-sanctioned racism follows recent widespread regional anger over Iranian state TV broadcasts of racist slurs against the Turkmen people of Southern Azerbaijan, which led to large demonstrations in Azerbaijan and elsewhere.</div>
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The racism against Ahwazis runs rampant; we can feel that the anti-Arab sentiments tainted by a deep-rooted fascism are not confined to ordinary Persian citizens, but include a considerable portion of the Persian elite that is directly fueled by state politics.</div>
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These racist textbooks are seemingly encouraged by the nonexistence of a law that penalizes such pernicious acts in a country. Akbar Abdi, a well-known comedian, has lately engaged in more of this racist chauvinism during a live program on state television. He mentioned a trip with his family to Mecca in which he reacted to an Arab man who requested to get his son engaged to his daughter by saying: If I equaled my daughter with Gold, I would not equal Arabs, you or your son with Persian rubbish.” He described the Arab man with ugly and dirty epithets. This was not the first time and will not be the last, when the state-sanctioned stream of bigotry against Arabs and Ahwazis is broadcast nationwide. Television programme and state-owned newspapers for years have been offending and attacking Arabs as Ahwazis are bearing the brunt.</div>
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What actually motivates racism among Persians against Arabs in general and Ahwazi Arabs in particular along with Kurds, Turks and Baluchis is the misplaced belief instilled into Persians minds that they come from the special superior Aryan race while the rest of other ethnic groups have some inferior racial traits that result in that group being detestable.</div>
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Source: MR. RAHIM HAMID</div>
EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-65834146137107457582015-12-01T16:23:00.001-08:002015-12-01T17:32:49.811-08:00This is what happens to Arab activists in Iran<h1 itemprop="headline name" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.16em;">The following article by an Ahwazi rights activist and </span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 46.4px;">campaigner has been published in <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/12027744/This-is-what-happens-to-Arab-activists-in-Iran.html" target="_blank">The Telegraph</a>:</span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.16em;"> </span></span></span></h1>
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beaten and abused – just because of a desire for freedom<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The rush to a nuclear deal with Iran has left human rights issues
sidelined. Few people in the West seem to care. They just want to ensure that
Tehran does not develop a nuclear capability. This aim is understandable but it
leaves Iran’s political prisoners, torture victims and persecuted ethnic
minorities with little hope of any respite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Tehran denies abusing human rights and seeks to deflect criticism by
pointing the finger at abuses by Western countries. Iran’s supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the US of oppressing the black community.
Other leaders have boasted that, unlike the West, Iran has no racial
discrimination. I know different; having been a victim of the regime’s
anti-Arab racism.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I belong to the Arab ethnic minority in Iran, known as Ahwazis. Our
homeland, Al-Ahwaz, is now part of south-west Iran. Oil-rich and
agriculturally-abundant, it was annexed by Tehran in 1925 and renamed
Khuzestan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In the years after the 2005 Ahwazi Arab uprising against the Iranian
occupation of Al-Ahwaz, the Tehran regime made indiscriminate mass arrests of
an estimated 25,000 Ahwazi human rights, cultural and political activists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In October 2008, the police came for me. I was a 22-year-old newly-wed
student living in my home city of Khalafiya in Al-Ahwaz and studying English
translation at Abadan Azad university.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The university authorities reported me to the security services after I
formed a student group to raise awareness of the officially suppressed Ahwazi
Arab culture. This was seen as a threat to the regime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">They accused me of endangering national security, anti-government
propaganda, activism against the regime and inciting secessionist sentiments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I was incarcerated in solitary confinement, without trial, in section
six of the infamous Sepidar prison, where I endured two months of relentless
abuse and torture. Only the solidarity and brotherhood of fellow activists and
cellmates gave me the inner strength to not give up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">My cell was dank and narrow, measuring 2.5 metres by 1.5 metres. The
walls were painted a violent red, possibly as camouflage for blood. The
"window" was a narrow slit through which sunlight would appear, but
only in the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Day and night I could hear the screaming and weeping of fellow prisoners
– men, women and children – who were incarcerated and tortured there. It was
the norm for guards to inflict casual cruelty, such as forbidding prisoners
access to a toilet so that they were forced to urinate in the cell, which stank
to a nausea-inducing extent in the heat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Among other forms of physical torture, I was tied to a metal bed frame
by the wrists and ankles and savagely whipped. If I resisted or cursed the
guards, they would prolong and intensify the torture. They raped me violently
and repeatedly with the large whip handle; so brutally that the rape did
permanent injury to my rectum, for which I still need medical treatment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">During the torture sessions, my interrogators attempted to extract
forced confessions from me; bullying me to state that I was involved with
Ahwazi political parties abroad – a charge that I consistently denied, since it
was untrue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The physical torture, and constant anti-Arab racist abuse, were
accompanied by many forms of psychological torture intended to demean,
humiliate and break me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">On one occasion, a guard brought a recorder into my cell and played a
recording of women screaming in agony, saying to me: “That’s your sister; we’re
'pleasuring’ her because she’s a bitch like you, you Arab moron.” When I cursed
him in response, he left the cell and returned with other guards, who beat and
kicked me almost unconscious before stripping me naked and using lighted
cigarette butts to burn my genitals and feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Another time, the guards handcuffed my hands behind my back and hanged
me from a ceiling fan. I was also beaten black and blue with a large heavy
belt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In my cell, I would distract myself from the fear, hunger, torture and
verbal abuse by reading the graffiti scratched on the wall by previous
prisoners. One said: “Don’t panic, your suffering is not greater than Almighty
Allah,” while another read: “I am innocent and will be hanged soon.” A
despairing father wrote simply and heartbreakingly: “My dear son, when you grow
up you will come here like your father – this is the fate of all Ahwazis.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sleep deprivation is a common form of psychological torture that is used
against political prisoners, which I was also subjected to; along with being
prevented from washing myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The heat, unhygienic conditions and lack of any ventilation mean that
lice, scabies and infestations were widespread among prisoners. After just four
days in a cell, I began scratching myself red raw to relieve the incessant
itching all over my body, finding lice even in my groin area.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Unlike many other Ahwazi detainees, I was eventually released on bail of
400 million Rial (about US$13,000); largely as a result of the serious
deterioration of my health. Two days after my release from prison, I collapsed
and was rushed to Arvand hospital in Ahwaz city. I required emergency surgery
for ruptures to my rectum caused by the multiple rapes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Since then I’ve had four further operations on my bowels and sphincter,
in Raazi hospital in Ahwaz and the latest in Servergazi hospital in Turkey. The
severe damage to the bowel muscles inflicted by the rape mean that I still
suffer from stress incontinence. Despite the operations, which required the
removal of part of my large intestine, I am still in near-constant pain and
suffer severe digestive and vomiting problems. My weight before I went into
prison was 70 kilos but now is only 54. I am a maimed man and need to go to the
doctor every week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">My trial, which began in early 2009, was postponed as a result of my
poor health. My lawyer, Hosseini Manesh, was successful in securing the suspension
of the proceedings and negotiating for me to finish my university studies.
However, the case against me has never been closed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">My severe health problems meant that I was unable to return to
university for many months. I only completed my degree in 2011. Fearful of
re-arrest, I gave up all activism during that period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The regime didn’t just maim my body, however, but wrecked my future
career plans. My record as a cultural activist and human rights campaigner
meant that I was blacklisted and unable to secure employment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In 2011, I felt compelled to resume my peaceful campaigning, following
the arrest of six Ahwazi activists associated with Al-Hiwar, an organisation
which aimed to raise cultural, civil and political awareness among Ahwazi Arabs
by organizing cultural events and free education classes for deprived Arab
youth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">All six activists were widely respected community figures. Some were
former teachers of mine. They were sentenced to death on trumped up charges of
terrorism after an unfair trial. This was later commuted to life imprisonment
for three of them and 20 years for another. But Hadi Rashedi and my former
lecturer in Arabic literature, Hashem Shabani, also a noted poet, were executed
in 2014. The charges against them included Moharebeh (“enmity against God”),
Mufsid-fil-Arz (“corruption on earth”) and spreading “propaganda” against the
political system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As a result of my support for these men and the wider cause of Ahwazi
human rights, I was constantly monitored by the regime’s intelligence services.
They put me under relentless psychological pressure, always trying to find any
excuse, however petty, to imprison me again. Security agents would send
intimidating, ominous messages using phones with the number withheld. They’d
demand I come to their headquarters in Romhormoz. I’d be interrogated for up to
nine hours and abused with racist anti-Arab insults such as “Arab
lizard-eater...camel’s milk-drinker...bastard Arab parasite.” They also abused
my mother and sisters as “whores.” I was bombarded with fake accusations, like
claiming I had links with Wahhabi Sunni extremists. There was physical abused
too; including being slapped around the face, and having my ears pinched and my
hair pulled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Although I was terrified, I was determined that the regime would not
silence me or the voice of other Ahwazis. I continued publicising the cases of
the detained members of Al-Hiwar using information received from their
anguished families. This generated global solidarity for the falsely accused
men.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In October 2012, I was called back into the intelligence security branch
for interrogation, with the officers demanding that I spy on fellow activists.
I knew if I refused that I could suffer the same fate as the men on death row.
I secretly fled my beloved Ahwazi homeland to Turkey with my wife, where I
sought refugee status. Recently, at last, I secured resettlement in the US.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Much as I wish to live in Al-Ahwaz, I know that if I ever return to Iran
I will face immediate arrest, imprisonment, torture and probable execution on
one or more of the common trumped up charges, such as “acting against Iran’s
national security” or “collaborating with foreign agents” and “fomenting
anti-Iranian propaganda.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Even now, my family still face harassment and persecution as a result of
my past activism. My father and brother were summoned to the intelligence
service's offices in Romhormoz for interrogation. My brother was dismissed from
his job as an agricultural engineer at the regime’s behest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">My story is not unusual. The Iranian authorities view me and all Ahwazi
Arabs as sub-humans, subversives and criminals on account of our Arab ethnicity
and desire for freedom. Ahwazi daily life is tainted by open racism and
bigotry. It is encouraged by the Tehran regime, with Arabs being commonly being
depicted as “uncivilized barbarians” and “barefoot nomadic peoples.” Any Arab
requesting equality, freedom and dignity is regarded and treated as an enemy of
the state. Al-Ahwaz is like a giant prison – an Orwellian hell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I am lucky to have escaped. I am alive and free. Many of my fellow
Ahwzai Arabs are in prison or have suffered the hangman’s noose. All of us who
survive have just one hope: We dream to be free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4658476604464874254.post-55534659210717955942015-11-27T09:28:00.000-08:002015-11-27T17:58:55.972-08:00Mysterious Death of an Ahwazi Political Prisoner<div>
Mystery surrounds the "sudden death" of a 35-year-old Ahwazi Arab political prisoner, Mohammad Hammadi, son of Aoudah. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFHp0u6rhpMsLfkx4q6ySp3kRM7oHWwFq26E3rQ0GIcZwryE7J72YyneQqV41qKA__EpGfGHTtZQjd4ghyphenhyphen5ZVx82_1JnrjyB9lNluqqrLWfATcetE4tgzxxpWyRR-DZ5ZqrX0t8csCLY/s1600/Mohammad+Hammadi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFHp0u6rhpMsLfkx4q6ySp3kRM7oHWwFq26E3rQ0GIcZwryE7J72YyneQqV41qKA__EpGfGHTtZQjd4ghyphenhyphen5ZVx82_1JnrjyB9lNluqqrLWfATcetE4tgzxxpWyRR-DZ5ZqrX0t8csCLY/s200/Mohammad+Hammadi.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Mysterious death of Ahwazi Arab</div>
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political prisoner</div>
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Mr. Hammadi, father of one, was detained in 2008 and spent two years in intelligence service facilities before being sentenced to 10 years in prison by a revolutionary court for "acting against national security".<br />
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He was recently transferred from Sepidar prison to Shayban prison.<br />
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The Iranian authorities from Shayban prison today, 27 November 2015, informed the family that his health had deteriorated and they could visit him in revolutionary guard's Mola Thani clinic. They later were told he died of stroke before arriving at the clinic. </div>
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However, the family members, who had visited him last week, maintain that the their son was in "a very good health and high morale" and that they were passionately anticipating his release. </div>
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Informed sources said that a family member who visited the morgue had told the family that their son's body bore some signs of bruising around his neck, back and legs which contradict the authorities account of "natural death" and suggest the authorities were accomplice and involved in his death. </div>
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Ahwazi political and cultural activists including poets have always been subjected to Iran's brutality and physical elimination. <a href="http://euahwazi.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/detained-humiliated-beaten-and-dragged.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">In November 2014</span></a> Iran detained and poisoned the Arab poet Sattar Sayahi (Abu Soror) to prevent him from involvement in a variety of Arab cultural activities.</div>
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EAHROhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03454879454807237834noreply@blogger.com0