Ahwazi Women: Decades of Resilience Against Iranian Occupation

The Ahwazi female presence has been conspicuous on the frontlines of resistance and the struggle, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ahwazi men, in the battle for the liberation of the Arab state of Ahwaz from Iranian oppression.
The Ahwazi woman is a wife, a mother, a sister, the daughter of a detainee, an exile, and an Ahwazi activist. She doesn’t simply engage in the fight; she bears the cost of dignity and pride, enduring years of her life confined within the walls of Persian occupation prisons.
Within Ahwaz’s women’s penitentiary, approximately 50 Ahwazi women are incarcerated, primarily due to political and security reasons, while undergoing questioning related to specific issues. A number of detainees have suffered from various health issues after enduring prolonged periods of confinement or facing physical abuse during their captivity.
According to imprisoned activist and lawyer, Spibeh Ghelichkhani, the situation of Arab women in prison is even more severe than that faced by other inmates. Being an Arab imprisoned is akin to a grave offense, leading to torture, verbal abuse, and mistreatment by prison authorities.
A majority of arrests are carried out without media knowledge, allowing the government to conveniently avoid public accountability due to the lack of media coverage.
Elaha Darvishi, aged 22, is one of the women who were apprehended on allegations tied to her husband, Hassan Darvishi, for his alleged participation in the assault on the convoy of Persian occupation forces in Ahwaz. Despite assertions that Hassan Darvishi was killed by the Ministry of Information, his wife remains in custody. She was pregnant at the time of arrest and gave birth to her child while incarcerated.
Among the Ahwazi women held by the occupation forces, 51-year-old Ma’soumeh Seydawi and 47-year-old Susan Seydawi were detained prior to the attack on the Persian occupation forces’ convoy in Ahwaz, an incident in which the leader of the Arab Struggle Movement, Habib Asoud, was apprehended.
Zahra Hosseini was seized by the occupation forces with the objective of pressuring her husband, whom the occupation authorities accuse of affiliating with an extremist faction.
Maryam Hamadi, aged 25, along with her mother Fatemeh Tunytzadeh, are numbered among the Sunni detainees whom the Persian occupation forces dub as “Daesh women.” Nevertheless, human rights activists assert that they were arrested due to their religious activities and involvement with online Sunni groups.
Human rights sources indicate a surge in the count of detained Ahwazi women over the past few months, with the Persian occupation unhesitatingly targeting relatives of the accused, subjecting them to coercion and torture to extract confessions, thereby imperiling the lives of Ahwazi women.
The Iranian regime follows a discriminatory policy against Ahwazi women, singling out their Arab identity and heritage, and readily inflicting maltreatment on detainees within prison facilities.
The Ahwazi woman persists in her battle against the Faqih regime, endeavoring to secure her full rights in the face of Iranian occupation within the region, navigating through internal and external crises experienced by the regime.