IRANIAN DISSIDENT DISCUSSES CONDITION OF AHWAZI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000151

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/I, NEA/IR AND INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2018
TAGS: PINR PHUM PTER ECON IR KU
SUBJECT: IRANIAN DISSIDENT DISCUSSES CONDITION OF AHWAZI
ARABS

Classified By: CDA Alan G. Misenheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: On January 29, A/Polcouns and Poloff met with
Ahmad Eidan Neisi (PROTECT/PROTECT),an Iranian Shi'a cleric
and political dissident from the Ahwaz region of southwestern
Iran. Neisi sought a meeting with Poloffs to discuss the
dire social and economic conditions of Ahwazi ethnic Arabs,
and to deliver a report enumerating the Ahwazis' many
grievances against the Government of Iran (GOI). He spoke of
systematic GOI oppression of Ahwazi Arabs, widespread human
rights violations, an "Ahwazi intifada," and the Ahwazi
diaspora. Neisi also touched on the Iranian regime's
religious underpinnings and its regional influence, including
its efforts in Iraq. (Note: Post will transmit Neisi's
report, drafted in Arabic, to NEA/IR via email. Bio
information provided in paragraph 10.) End summary.

Systematic Discrimination
--------------


2. (C) Neisi spoke at length about the GOI's systematic
discrimination against the Ahwazi ethnic Arabs and its
repercussions. According to Neisi, there are approximately
seven million ethnic Arabs currently living in Southwestern
Iran. They are concentrated in the region's 15 main cities,
with roughly two million Arabs living in the city of Ahwaz
itself. The GOI has renamed each of the region's cities in
FARSI since incorporating Ahwaz into Iran 80 years ago.
According to Neisi, the GOI prohibits Arabic language and
dress and arrests Ahwazis for even mentioning their cities'
Arabic names. Schools no longer teach Arabic language, and
security agents have infiltrated all levels of Ahwazi
society. State-approved clerics dominate the local courts.


3. (C) Neisi complained bitterly about widespread
unemployment among Ahwazi Arabs. He said the GOI
deliberately imports ethnic Persians to displace the Ahwazis,
providing the Persians with relocation incentives such as new
cars and free housing in gated communities. Neisi said
ethnic Arabs constitute only 2-3 percent of the work force in
the region's main industries, petroleum and agriculture, even
though Arabs constitute percent 65 of the overall population
in the region. Pervasive unemployment has resulted in
devastating social consequences. Drugs are cheap and openly
available, and drug abuse is prevalent. According to Neisi,
the GOI has encouraged this situation in order to "destroy
the Arab youth." Open sewers and generally filthy living
conditions have promoted disease and increased mortality
rates. Access to health care is limited since Ahwazis cannot
afford to pay medical fees.


4. (C) According to Neisi, the GOI deliberately disrupted
electricity and water supplies to the region in the summer of
2006 for, on average, seven hours per day. Clean drinking
water is expensive and in short supply. In addition, the GOI
deliberately pollutes the local Qaroon River with industrial
runoff and medical waste. Korean and Japanese scientific
teams reportedly declared the waters of the Qaroon River "not
even suitable for animals." Local farmers use this river to
irrigate their crops, resulting in low agricultural yields
and spoiled acreage.


5. (C) Neisi added that the GOI also heavily restricts
freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It routinely
confiscates satellite dishes, controls all local newspapers,
and broadcasts state media solely in FARSI (despite its use
of local dialects in other regions of Iran). GOI agents also
routinely raid Ahwazi households and confiscate suspect
media, accusing the Arabs of being "U.S. agents."
Furthermore, the GOI prevents Ahwazi university students from
studying certain subjects, such as political science,
aeronautical engineering and nuclear physics.


6. (C) Neisi said the state dominates local religious worship
as well. GOI imams from Qom conduct prayers and sermons at
Ahwazi mosques exclusively in FARSI in an attempt to suppress
the region's Arab culture. Ahwazi mosques receive no
financial support from the GOI and opposition clerics are
labeled adherents of Saudi Wahabism or accused of being
"Americanized." In Qom, GOI clerics accuse Ahwazi imams of
being "deviants from Wilayat al-Fakih" (clerical rule) and
reportedly fear their influence, which they find "as
dangerous as a katyusha rocket." Due to religious
persecution, "hundreds" of Awhazi imams have emigrated from
Iran and now preach in Syria and Kuwait.

The Ahwazi Intifada

KUWAIT 00000151 002 OF 002


--------------


7. (C) According to Neisi, the GOI's systematic persecution
led to a revolt among hundreds of thousands of Ahwazi Arabs
in April 2005. The insurgents reportedly attacked local
government ministries, burned banks and raided police
stations. Neisi claims the GOI deployed 150,000 soldiers to
quell the rebellion, and that hundreds died in the ensuing
violence throughout Ahwaz, Mashour and Kura provinces. Local
hospitals reportedly refused to treat injured Ahwazi Arabs.
Since the April 2005 intifada, there have been additional
clashes with GOI security forces and Persian settlers,
prompting the Iranian regime to build regional detention
camps and implement even stricter control over communications
and travel. Consequently, Ahwazi Arabs now frequently
discuss the prospect of independence from Iran, which they
claim would be "worthless without Ahwazi oil." According to
Neisi, approximately 70 percent of the local populace is
lightly armed, having obtained weapons from Iraq since 2003.

Displacement and Diaspora
--------------


8. (C) Neisi described a GOI policy of deliberately
displacing the Ahwazi Arabs from their ancestral homeland,
particularly along the border with Iraq. Many Ahwazis left
the border region during the Iran/Iraq War for fear of being
drafted by the GOI or of being used as agents by the Iraqis.
The region remains scarred by the decade-long conflict, while
the GOI has offered no incentives for Awhazis to return.
Many have not, and today ethnic Persians dominate these towns
and villages. Former President Mohammad Al-Khatami is
reported to have said that the GOI would "displace Arabs from
Ahwaz to Tabriz, Shiraz and Isfahan and move in Persians."
Accordingly, an Ahwazi diaspora has ensued, with tens of
thousands of ethnic Arabs relocating to the Afghan border
region, Kuwait, UAE, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and the West.

Iran and its Regional Influence
--------------


9. (C) Neisi said the Iranian government exploits religion to
deceive the world, legitimize its regime and advance its own
political objectives. He claimed the GOI is spending
billions on its proxy, Hizballah, and has compensated it for
the recent Nahar Al-Barid conflict in Lebanon. Iran is also
supporting upwards of 40 different insurgent groups in Iraq
to incite ethnic violence and destabilize the country. Neisi
spoke of one noteworthy individual, Abu Dera Al-Baghdadi,
allegedly residing in Tehran, who reportedly boasted of
killing hundreds of Sunnis in Iraq. Neisi noted, however,
that the GOI distrusts Ahwazi Arabs and refuses to use them
as agents in Iraq. He said all Iranians oppose President
Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, particularly the Ahwazis, and he called
Syria's Bashar Al-Asad "an agent of Iran" for ordering the
expulsion of Awhazi Arabs from his country.

Biographic Note
--------------


10. (C) Ahmad Eidan Neisi is an Iranian Shi'a cleric of Arab
descent. He is a political dissident who claims to speak on
behalf of the Al-Muhammadia Religious Community (Al-Jaamia
Al-Deenia Al-Mohammadia),a group of approximately 150 ethnic
Arab clerics, university students, civil servants,
journalists and intellectuals based in Ahwaz. He was born on
Oct. 23, 1983, he is married with children, currently resides
in the city of Ahwaz with his family, and is attempting to
emigrate with them to the U.K. Neisi is in Kuwait for
approximately three weeks and contacted A/Polcouns on January
28 to request a meeting concerning the condition of ethnic
Arabs in Ahwaz.

********************************************* *
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s

Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
********************************************* *
MISENHEIMER