 | Ethnic politics of Khuzestan: Encyclopedia II - Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Terrorist attacks in Khuzestan
Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Terrorist attacks in Khuzestan
In 2005, Ahvaz witnessed a number of terrorist attacks. The first came ahead of the presidential election on 12 June. Interior Ministry official Mohammad Hussein Motahar said at the time:
Two bombs were hidden in toilets within the building of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and at the Office of Construction and Civil Engineering. The third bomb exploded in front of the house of the governor of Khuzestan Province. All three of these explosions were in the city center of Ahvaz. Another bomb was hidden in the doorway of the house of a [state] radio and television official in Ahvaz. The bomb went off when the door was opened.[32]
On 16 October, two bombs exploded in a shopping mall killing at least four people. The bombs were placed in bins. Two days later, the authorities claimed that they had foiled an attempt to bomb Abadan refinery and Kianpars bridge in Ahvaz. Attacks on oil pipelines were reported by the authorities throughout the year, particularly in September when five oil wells caught alight.
The Iranian government has pointed the blame for the bomb attacks on a number of groups and foreign governments. The government initially blamed the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MeK) and the separatist Ahwazi Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front (ADPF), with support from the American and British governments. Both groups denied responsibility. At least three Arab groups claimed responsibility for the June bombings, including the Canada-based Party of the Ahwaz Arab Renaissance Party (AARP) (aka Hizba al-Nahdah al-Arabi al-Ahwazi) [33]. Sabah al-Musawi of AARP - which was created in Damascus by the Syrian Ba'ath Party - also appeared to justify the killing of civilians, stating: "These people came from outside Ahvaz. These are settlers.... They came to Ahvaz and they must bear the consequences. The regime must bear its responsibilities towards the people it brought as settlers to Ahvaz." [34] The AARP had claimed responsibility for an attack on the Abadan-Ma'shuur pipeline in May 2005.
However, the Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz condemned all killing of civilians, suggesting that many of those killed were Khuzestani Arabs themselves.[35] According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) spokesman Nasser Bani-Assad dismissed the claims of responsibility by various foreign-based separatist groups, alleging that they did not have the ability to carry out an attack and were seeking publicity and notoriety.[36] [37] In a statement on the BAFS website, Bani-Assad said:
If you want to know who is behind the attacks, you only have to think about who would benefit the most - and it is not the Arabs. Certainly, the more extreme hard-line elements of the Iranian establishment will benefit greatly from the nationalist and religious fervour and anti-Arab sentiments that will arise as a result of these bomb attacks.
Presidential candidate Mostafa Moeen also suggested that those responsible for the Ahvaz attacks were also linked to similar attacks in Tehran and Zahedan. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Moeen suggested that the violence could have been aimed at encouraging people to vote for a hardline militarist candidate. When asked by the Guardian whether the attacks had the government's approval, he said: "I do not consider it improbable."[38]
In the months after the June attacks, government officials and the pro-government media alleged that the UK, US, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the Shell Oil Company all had a role in the bombings, but none published any conclusive evidence. Despite claiming to have arrested those responsible for the attacks, no-one has been charged or put on trial.
Following the October attacks, the head of the judiciary for Khuzestan province, Sayyed Khalil Akbar al-Sadat, blamed "British spies," while the conservative Kayhan newspaper claimed the terrorists were "British soldiers." Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Mousapour told state-run Mehr news agency:
Most probably those involved in the explosion were British agents who were involved in the previous incidents in Ahvaz and Khuzestan.[39]
The British Embassy in Tehran denied any responsibility in a statement released after the attacks:
There has been speculation in the past about alleged British involvement in Khuzestan. We reject these allegations. Any linkage between the British Government and these terrorist outrages is completely without foundation.
Various officials repeated the claim of British involvement, repeating that they had reliable intelligence and confessions from those arrested after the attacks. However, no-one has been tried in connection to the attacks. Senior members of the Bawi (Bavi) tribe were arrested and two were sentenced to death, but it is not known whether this is in connection with the attacks.[40]
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