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Calm returns to Iranian Arab city after two days of violence
(AP)

17 April 2005


TEHRAN - The largely Arab city of Ahvaz was calm on Sunday, with anti-riot police cruising the streets after two days of violent demonstrations.

At least one demonstrator died and eight others were injured in the protests, sparked by rumors that Tehran planned to decrease the proportion of Arabs in the oil-rich area near the Iraqi border.

Police patrols cruised Ahvaz’s neighbourhoods on Sunday and guarded the city’s banks. Shops were open although the streets were largely empty, with vehicles of anti-riot troops lining the streets, residents said.

“Security is tight in two or three neighbourhoods,” said Hadi Yunesi, a local journalist. “But the city is calm, shops are open and life has returned to normal.”

The fracas started on Friday after hundreds of Arab residents of Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, gathered to chant slogans against an alleged government plan to move more non-Arabs into the city.

The protests turned violent as people set fire to banks and police stations. Police made more than 250 arrests.

The violence was sparked after a copy of a letter allegedly signed by former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi was circulated in Ahvaz and other cities in Khuzestan.

The letter, which Abtahi denied writing, describes a plan to relocate non-Arabs to the city to make them the majority population.

Arabs make up about 3 percent of Iran’s population; Persians account for 51 percent of the population of 69 million.



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