A multiethnic region in Iran inhabited mostly by Ahwazi Arabs, the Ahwazi region of Iran has come under the spotlight recently as media outlets circulate images of an environmental disaster. 

Pollution threatens the longevity of Ahwazi Arabs, as desertification claims vast swaths of land typically allocated for agriculture. Wetlands have also been drying up, killing fish which are a major part of the Ahwazi diet. 

According to Ahwazi activists, the Falahiyeh wetlands have dried up. Iranian officials claim that the ecological disaster is the result of climate change, but Jassim Moramazi, a professor specialising in environmental affairs, contests these statements. 

Moramazi insists that higher temperatures alone could not cause this kind of damage, asserting that these developments are recent after oil companies began operating in the oil-rich region. 

“These greedy firms want to get oil at any cost. They have devastated the environment,” said Moramazi. 

The problem had already existed since Iran began building dams in the largest rivers of the region, but oil companies further exacerbate the problem.

This however, is not the only reason that Ahwazi Arabs have been mentioned in the news. 

According to recent reports by human rights groups, Iran is has launched a recent waive of crackdowns on the populaion. The Ahwaz Human Rights Organization issued a report saying that Iranian security forces have arrested dozens of citizens and activists preventing public celebrations of Eid al-Adha.

The organization listed the names of 35 individuals, condemning the "arbitrary" arrests and urging the government to adhere to International Human Rights Council resolutions, respecting freedom to gather and march peacefully.  

Iranian security forces carried out similar arrests during Eid al-Fitr, with activists claiming they are afraid of Arab youth organizing and demanding for their rights. 

Despite recent developments in the Ahwazi region, where Iranian oil exports boomed to 1.7 million barrels a day after sanctions were lifted in March, Ahwazi's remain to live in poverty. 

Iran has the world's fourth largest oil reserves, 70% of which are onshore and 80% in total are in the Ahwazi region. Chinese officials announced investments in Iran to extract and purchase oil, despite the initiative not affecting Ahwazi's poverty and threatening their longevity via pollution.