Iranian Arabs

Iranian Arabs (Persian: عربان ايرانی) are the Arabic-speaking peoples of Iran. Most Iranian Arabs live in the coastal regions of southern Iran by the Persian Gulf. Iranian Arab communities are also found in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates.

Overview

The CIA World Factbook estimates that approximately 1% of Iran's 68,017,860 citizens are Arabic-speakers, of whom the majority live in Khuzestan, with 1% speaking Arabic as their native or primary language.

A 1998 report by UNCHR reported half a million Arabs residing in Khuzestan Province, most of whom are Shi'a. Sunni Muslim Arabs live along the Persian Gulf coastline.

Payame Noor University, which has 229 campuses throughout the country, in 2008 declared that Arabic will be the "second language" of the university, and that all its services will be offered in Arabic, concurrent with Persian.

Regional groups

Khuzestan

Most Iranian Arabs in Khūzestān Province are bilingual, speaking Arabic as their mother tongue, and Persian as a second language. They refer to khuzestan by the name "Ahwaz" and often call themselves Ahwazi Arabs. The variety of Arabic spoken in the province is Khuzestani Arabic, which is a Mesopotamian dialect shared by Arabs across the border in Iraq. It has significant Persian influence and is not understood by most other Arabic-speakers.

Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, which differ to a degree from Khuzestani Arabic dialect, are taught across Iran to students in secondary schools, regardless of their ethnic or linguistic background. In fact the constitution of the Islamic republic requires this particular subject to be taught after primary school.

They are majority Shi'a, with Sunni minority and small numbers of Christians and Jews.

In 2005, unrest caused an outbreak of violence due to alleged long-time discrimination.

See also: Khūzestān Province, History of Khūzestān Province, and Politics of Khūzestān Province

Hormozgan

In Hormozgan Province the Iranian Arab population speak various local dialects of Gulf Arabic that like the Mesopotamian dialects has significant Persian influence.

The Arabs in the province are most fishermans from neighboring Oman, but still the Arabs of the province are estimated to be 4 - 8 % of the population of Hormozgan.

Bushehr

In Bushehr Province , there are about 20,000 Arabs that immigrate to Iran because of the unpleasant environment of Saudi Arabia. Many of them arrived in Bushehr Province in 1946. The majority of these Arabs live in Kangan and Bandar-i Tahiri.

Fars

Khamseh nomads live in eastern Fars Province.

Khorasan

Most Khorasani-Arabs belong to the tribes of Sheybani, Zangooyi, Mishmast, Khozaima and Azdi. Khorasani-Arabs are Persian speakers and only a few speak Arabic as their mother tongue.

Demographics

Elton Daniel in The History of Iran (Greenwood Press, 2001), states that the Arabs of Iran "are concentrated in the province of Khuzistan and number about half a million" (pg. 14). The Historical Dictionary of Iran puts the number at 1 million. (J. Lorentz, 1995, p172)

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "More than half the population are Arabs who live in the plains; the rest are Bakhtyaris and other Lurs (peoples of West Persia), with many Persians in the cities. Some of the Bakhtyaris and Lurs are still nomads." [1]

Human Rights

Main article: Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Ahwazi activists, Amnesty International and the UNPO allege that there is institutional discrimination against the arab minority in iran.

The following is claimed:

• That the Iranian government transfers the indigenous Arab population and replaces it with Persian and Azeri immigrants.
• That the Iranian government tries to eradicate the cultural uniqueness of Ahwazi Arabs, by suppressing the use of Khuzestani Arabic and by replacing traditional arab names with Farsi ones, a Process refered to as Persianization.
• That Iranian Arabs are economically and socially discriminated against by not recieving a fair share of the national budget. in particular it refers to oil revenue derived from the province and diversion of water sources from the province.
• That the central government uses excessive violence and repressive methods to quell unrest, with particular targeting of human rights activism by minorities, precieved as a threat of seperatism.

According to the Minorities at Risk Project 2001, about 40 per cent of Arabs are unskilled workers living in urban areas. The Arabs in the rural areas are primarily farmers and fishermen. The Arabs living along the Persian Gulf coastal plains are mostly pastoral nomads. Tribal loyalties are strong among rural Arabs, but also have an influence in urban areas. These have an impact on Arab socialisation and politicisation.

Based on these views, several seperatist movements exist, such as the AARP, AADPF and DSPA. the DSPA also serves as the Ahwazi arab representative to the UNPO.

However, According to Jane's Information Group, "Most Iranian Arabs seek their constitutionally guaranteed rights and do not have a separatist agenda ... While it may be true that some Arab activists are separatists, most see themselves as Iranians first and declare their commitment to the state's territorial integrity."

See also

• List of Iranian Arabs
• History of Arabs in Afghanistan
• Huwala
• Politics of Khuzestan Province

External links

• Khuzestan: The First Front in the War on Iran? by Zoltan Grossman
• Iran's Challenges from Within: An Overview of Ethno-Sectarian Unrest by Chris Zambelis