Five people were killed and 310 arrested in last week's clashes in Ahvaz, a city where Iran's 3 percent Arab minority are in the majority. Iran blamed foreigners and counterrevolutionaries for the ethnic tensions, but admitted the province's development was still hampered by the devastation it suffered during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.
A senior cleric accused Israel and the United States of seeking to sow disunity. "Zionism, which partly exists in Tel Aviv but is mainly based in the White House and Washington, has plans to harm Islam by stirring disunity," Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said in his sermon at the main weekly Muslim prayers in Tehran.
State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli called on Iran "to exercise restraint" in dealing with the ethnic Arab minority and "to respect the peaceful exercise by the Iranian people of their democratic rights."
Meanwhile, the US propaganda arm, RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, shows the State Department was well aware of the history of this area and so likely very interested in fomenting unrest in the area, bordering Iraq and near Kuwait. The article clearly is fomenting increased unrest. There is one rather interesting quote in the text:
On 18 April, Amnesty International identified seven men who had been arrested and said at least 130 others were detained in the Ahvaz environs from 15-18 April. Amnesty International went on to cite "unconfirmed reports" that 29 people were killed and the authorities have cut off water, power, and telephones in parts of Ahvaz. Amnesty International also referred to extra judicial killings.
Since when does a Republican US government quote Amnesty International? Clearly they are mentioning any information that furthers its goal to destablize Iran.
Then there is another interesting reference in a Reuters article:
"We have arrested many of those behind the scenes and it became evident that they have ties to anti-government (television) channels," he said. The Tehran bureau of Qatar-based Al Jazeera television was later closed, said a senior Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry official in charge of supervising the foreign press.
I'd bet this is the line of inquiry that got Iranian government upset:
Aljazeera
Fierce clashes have broken out between Iranian military forces and ethnic Arab Iranians who are calling for an independent state in southern Iran. Sources in the region said at least three ethnic Arabs had been killed and many injured in demonstrations in the southern province of Khuzestan.
The demonstrations were called for by the London-based Popular Democratic Front of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran. More than 250 were reportedly arrested. A representative of the group, speaking to Aljazeera from London, said there were movements within and outside Iran pressing for independence of the region, home to at least three million Iranians of Arab descent. "The demonstrations to mark 80 years of Iranian occupation were peaceful but the Iranian authorities confronted the people with violent means and military force," he said. He said Iranian military units had besieged several ethnically Arab villages after the demonstration. Iranian political activist Muhammad Navaseri said Arab residents of Ahwaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, gathered on Friday morning, chanting slogans against alleged government plans to move more non-Arabs in the city.
Aljazeera must be the most restricted media company in the world. They have lost privileges in Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia from time to time. When a journalistic organization finds itself under attack for political reasons, I have to pay more attention to them. Perhaps they are sharing the facts as they know them and let the chips fall where they may.
Copyright (c) 2005 The Daily Star
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Thousands rally in restive Iran oil province
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
TEHRAN: Ethnic Arabs were among thousands of Iranians who joined a rally against "foreign plots" in the sensitive southwestern oil province of Khuzestan on Friday, a week after deadly clashes between Arab protesters and security forces there.
State television aired footage of thousands of demonstrators carrying banners and chanting: "Down with America, down with Israel," in both Arabic and Farsi.
"People of Ahvaz from different groups once again enthusiastically took part in the parade to show their unanimity against enemy plots," the television reported from the provincial capital.
Five people were killed and 310 arrested in last week's clashes in Ahvaz, a city where Iran's 3 percent Arab minority are in the majority.
Iran blamed foreigners and counterrevolutionaries for the ethnic tensions, but admitted the province's development was still hampered by the devastation it suffered during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.
A senior cleric accused Israel and the United States of seeking to sow disunity.
"Zionism, which partly exists in Tel Aviv but is mainly based in the White House and Washington, has plans to harm Islam by stirring disunity," Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said in his sermon at the main weekly Muslim prayers in Tehran.
State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli called on Iran "to exercise restraint" in dealing with the ethnic Arab minority and "to respect the peaceful exercise by the Iranian people of their democratic rights." - AFP
Copyright (c) 2005 The Daily Star
No comments:
Post a Comment