Thousands of people marched for peace in southwest Iran yesterday one week after bloody ethnic unrest in which at least five people were killed and more than 300 arrested, state media reported. State television showed images of thousands of men and women marching through the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan province where just days ago groups of Arab-Iranians attacked and set fire to cars and buildings and clashed with security forces. Officials say the protests were sparked by circulation of a forged letter, supposedly written by a senior government official, which suggested ways to dilute Arab influence in southwest Iran — the heartland of the country's oil industry. Only about three percent of Iran's 67 million population is Arab but in some parts of the southwest they are in a majority.
Those taking part in the Grand Solidarity rally in Ahvaz yesterday carried banners and chanted slogans in both Farsi and Arabic condemning the unrest and attacking the Islamic state's chief enemies. Many officials and politicians have accused Iran's foreign enemies and exile opposition groups of stirring up the recent unrest. Authorities have temporarily closed down the Tehran bureau of Qatar-based Arabic language news network Al-Jazeera, saying its role in encouraging the violence was being investigated. |