Word: khuzistan
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...similar difficulty exists in Khuzistan, center of the Iranian oil industry. The Khomeini regime has alienated the 2 million Shi'ite Arabs of Khuzistan, particularly the oilfield workers, who feel that their strikes made a significant contribution to the overthrow of the Shah. The Iranian oil industry also needs technocratic leadership, which the Ayatullah has been unable or unwilling to provide. The current oil minister, Ah' Akbar Moinfar, last week announced that he would suspend shipments to the U.S. "the moment we get orders from the Imam." In fact, no such order was issued, and U.S. companies said that there...
Iran also remains plagued by separatist problems, which last week centered on the oil-rich province of Khuzistan, whose inhabitants are mostly ethnic Arabs. Last week, in skirmishes between oilworkers and government troops, Arab demonstrators shouted "Death to Khomeini!"-a shocking echo of the epithet that only a few months ago was directed against the Shah. There were also rumblings of discontent in the Kurdish areas of northern Iran. The leader of the Kurds, Sheik Ezzeddin Hossaini, warned that unless the new constitution protects "all the ethnic minority groups in the country," Iran would face a "bloodbath...
OPEC could be poised for a further jump in prices. Production from Iran hovers at about 4 million bbl. daily, or approximately two-thirds its prerevolutionary output. But violence is flaring once again among oilworkers in the fields of Khuzistan. If the trouble results in even a modest drop in exports, that could send prices shooting into orbit...
Some of the country's most prestigious leaders have joined the Prime Minister in calling for an end to the revolutionary trials. One of them is Ayatullah Mohammed Khaqani, powerful leader of 3 million Arabic-speaking Iranians in the vital oil province of Khuzistan. Last week Khaqani threatened to leave the country unless his objections to the komitehs were heeded. Iran, he said, had become "an unbearable place to Live" and discrimination against Arabs persisted. Khaqani warned that his exile would trigger labor disorders and further disruptions of oil production. Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran...