Iran fighting claims 22 lives

Regime blames it on clashes between rival tribesmen in Khuzestan province

JEDDAH/LONDON: Fighting between rival tribesmen in southern Iran left 22 people dead Friday night, an Iranian lawmaker was quoted by the ILNA news agency as saying Saturday.

“The incident… in Ramhormoz county (in Khuzestan province) is rooted in an old tribal conflict,” lawmaker Hedayatollah Khademi said. “Unfortunately… advanced military weapons were used and 22 people were killed.”

But Harvard scholar and Iranian affairs expert Majid Rafizadeh said it was inaccurate to describe the fighting as tribal.

“Although the government claims the conflict is tribal, the root of the issue is anchored in other critical underlying reasons,” he told Arab News Saturday.

“Ramhormorz is located near Masjad Soleiman and east of the Arab region Ahvaz in Khuzestan province, which provides roughly 90 percent of Iran’s exports,” he said.

“Although the province is the wealthiest when it comes to natural resources, it is ranked at the bottom of Iran’s 31 provinces regarding health, standard of living, life expectancy, poverty, air pollution, employment and housing.”

Ramhormorz, like many other counties in Khuzestan, has long been neglected, Rafizadeh added.

“This region is one of the most deprived economically, and it is discriminated against socially, ethnically, religiously and politically,” he said. “Many habitants are from the religious and ethnic minorities of Arabs and Bakhtiaris.”

Rafizadeh said there have been protests recently in Ramhormorz because the government-backed Caspian Credit Institute did not return depositors’ and investors’ money. “These underlying issues have created deep grievances among people.” oil