Araz News: Retired Army Veteran Dr. Rich Swier has taken up the cause of advocating on behalf of the Ahwazi Arabs of Southwestern Iran, a group that has received very little attention from Western media, but has recently been gaining notoriety for peacefully fighting back against horrific abuses by the regime. In a recent blog post, Dr. Swier has even gone as far as to label the “purging of ethnic Arabs” as “genocide,” the term first used by the Saudi newspaper Ashraq Al-Awsat to describe the situation in Ahwaz. Dr. Swier writes:

As the U.S. Congress and President Obama negotiate with Iran perhaps it is best to reveal Iran’s dirty little secret. The secret is that Iran has been systematically purging ethic Arabs in the Western part of their country. This purging has been called a “genocide”. The reason for this purge of ethnic Arabs? Oil. To understand how cruel this effort is just Google the words “Ahwaz genocide.” You will get over 16,000 results.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported in 2012:

Secretary-General of the Arab Front for the Liberation of Ahwaz [AFLA], Faisal Abdul Karim Naama, issued an international “distress call”, calling on the international and Arab world to “save the Ahwazi Arab people” from the “Persian expansionist project.” He also revealed that thousands of ethnic Arabs in the Ahwaz province of Iran have been killed by the Iranian security apparatus, adding that thousands more are awaiting the same fate. As for why Tehran is suppressing the Ahwazi Arab people, Naama stressed that this was simply due to their “Arab identity.”

Ahwaz, capital of Iran’s Khuzestan province, is located south of Tehran. Its territory was annexed by Iran in 1925, and its population is majority Arab. Khuzestan is the source of 90 percent of Iran’s oil production, but the province’s population complains of marginalization, poverty and an absence of basic social services. Ahwaz is the home of a number of political movements calling for secession from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khuzestan has been the center of a number of high profile executions over the past years. In 2007, Iranian authorities executed 22 activists in Ahwaz after they were convicted of supporting secession from Iran.

AFLA Secretary-General, Faisal Abdul Karim Naama, informed Asharq Al-Awsat that “we are appealing to the world because what is happening in Ahwaz is a crime of mass genocide. This is ethnic cleansing, as our only crime is our Arab identity, therefore the world must shoulder its humanitarian responsibilities and stand with the Ahwazi Arab people.” [Emphasis added]

Mona Oudeh an Ahwazi Arab activist in a 2015 interview with Al-Sharq Newspaper states:

In fact, since the start of Iranian occupation and domination of Al-Ahwaz, the ultra-national Persian institutions have systematically implemented policies of racial discrimination against the entire Ahwazi population, and in particular, of Ahwazi women, who have been excluded from all rights and privileges including educational opportunities, employment, intellectual, literary and artistic participation, as well as the denial of exercising their indigenous cultural activities.

Mona continued, saying that crimes of the occupation are incalculable, but the worst crime committed against the majority of Ahwazi women is through the policy of ethnic cleansing practiced in the cruelest manner, by preventing women of childbearing age to bring about demographic change in the areas of Al-Ahwaz.

The occupation authorities are forcing Ahwazi women to give birth through “Caesarean” procedure rather than natural birthing, and in many cases the authorities urge the doctors to carry out sterilization on birthing women without their knowledge or prior approval, through the process of tying the fallopian tubes. This results in Ahwazi women no longer being able to have more than one child, and thus, it reduces population growth among the Arabs.

She pointed out the suffering of the Ahwazi women as a consequence of the apartheid policies of Iranian occupation. Women are subjected to arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, physical harassment, psychological and physical torture as well as the death penalty like all Ahwazi activists. The Arab and international stance regarding our plight is still weak, and our cause must be activated and placed on the table of international forums.

Perhaps the U.S. Congress should take this ethic cleansing into consideration as part of any agreement with Iran?

Reprinted from Dr. Rich Swier

Note: The views expressed in reprinted material are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Araz News. Araz News reprints noteworthy news and analysis of direct importance to Iran’s ethnic groups, particularly concerning Azerbaijani-Turks. 

RELATED ARTICLES:

• Forced sterilization, exclusion, persecution, informative genocide: The conditions of Ahwazi women
• Massive demonstration in Brussels on anniversary of Iranian occupation of Al-Ahwaz