Iranian Ahwaz

The Free Iranian Arabs of Ahwaz Khuzestan Region الأحواز الحرة
Flag
Motto: الله أكبر (Arabic) "Allahu Akbar" (transliteration) "God is the Greatest"
Status	Indigenous Arab people within the province of Al-Ahwaz (officially known as Khuzestan) are a national, ethnic, linguistic and a minority withen iran
Capital and largest city	Ahwaz (Ahwaz)
Official languages	Arabic
Ethnic groups	Arab
Religion	Islam
Demonym(s)	Ahwazi
Government	Parliamentary
Area
• Total	375,000 km2 (145,000 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	7.85 million (2014)

Ahwaz Arabic: الأحواز al-‘Ahwaz, Ahwaz is a separatist region in Western Asia which claims autonomy. The country to the north borders the Zagros mountains and Kurdistan, Iran to the east, Balochistan to the southeast, Oman to the south, Iraq to the southwest, The capital, Ahwaz, is in the center of the country and its largest city. The Ahwaz region Is predominantly Arab with a population of 5-7 million Arabs.

Etymology

The word Ahwaz the word ultimately is derived from Elamite. The Dehkhoda Dictionary specifically defines the Arabic "Suq-al-Ahwaz" as "Market of the Khuzis", where "Suq" is the Arabic word for market, and "Ahwaz" is a broken plural (اسم جمع) of the form "af'āl" (افعال) of the word "Huz", which itself comes from the Persian Huz, from Achaemenid inscriptions where the term first appears which was a corruption of Sus the capital of the Elamite Region. Thus, "Ahwaz" in Arabic means "the Huz-i people",The Arabs of Ahwaz Are natives to Coastal Iran Formally known as Arabistan later changed to Khuzestan in 1925 after Persian invasion of the Region.

The name of the region appears in medieval Syriac sources as ܒܝܬ ܗܘܙܝܐ Beṯ Huzáyé, literally meaning "land of the Huzis".

Ahwazi history

Ahwaz is known to be the home to the civilisation of Elam. Susa had been the capital city: Ahwazis refer to it as the blessed land of the prophet Daniel whose burial ground is located in Shusa or Susa. Elam was one of the civilizations comparable to Akkad that existed as a sister to civilization to Sumer, Assyria,and Babylon. There are many historical sites that can still be seen today throughout Ahwaz.

The Elamite civilization was destroyed by the Persian conquest but was never actually inhabited by the Persians in the land of Ahwaz, since the climate was too wild for them.

French archaeologist excavation between 1901-1902 in Susa shows that the Ancient Elamites (modern-day Ahwazis) were of Semitic origin.

History of the Ahwazi political struggle for liberation

Originally, Ahwaz was an emirate and maintained its own political autonomy lead and ruled by Sheikh Khazzal Bin Al-Jabbar who ruled from 1897-1925. He was overthrown by the Reza Shah Pahlavi. The first Ahwazi struggle for independence was in 1922 which was lead by the Arab Nationalist Sheikh Khaz'al al-Ka'bi from 1922-1924. After the Sheikh's downfall the newly added region of Iran began to be ruled tyranically, marking the fate of Ahwaz. It would begin a struggle that still goes on to the present day. Since the 1930s, Ahwazis have been forced by the Iranian government to intergrate themselves into Persian culture and claim Persian identities, by prohibiting them education in their language and eradicating any Arabic influence in Ahwaz.

The Ahwazi people fight the struggle for their rights, national rights and self-determination. From occupation until 1986, Ahwazis protested peacefully to have their rights and country recognized. Their struggle to achieve political recognition by Iran, which is ignored by the government, has led to violent measures in achieving an Ahwazi state.

Ahwazi Human rights

While all Ethnic Groups of Iran are accorded "full respect" in the Iranian constitution, in practice and through social exclusion, they suffer discrimination. Ahwazi Arabs face restrictions on use of and instruction in Arabic language. While the moderate regime of Khatami had put into place some remedial policies for the Arab population, these were removed under Ahmadinejad. Following mass protests in 2005 and 2006, Arabs have faced generally repressive policies placed on the entire population which lead to the Arab Spring in Ahwaz in 2011.

The future of Ahwaz

Although most Ahwazis are loyal to Iran, a vast majority believe Ahwaz should be liberated. The majority of the Ahwazi population claim their nationalities as "Iranian first, Ahwazi second", which has created a controversy among the community.