Concerns in Ahwaz over Tehran’s intentions to bring more settlers after Pezeshkian’s statements on moving the capital

Statements by Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian regarding the need to relocate the capital from Tehran have sparked widespread concern among Ahwazi activists, who believe that this proposal could serve as a prelude to steps aimed at intensifying settlement activities in Ahwaz cities, especially amid ongoing policies designed to alter Ahwaz demographically and economically in favor of Persian newcomers.

Ahwazi activists affirm that the Iranian authorities have, over the past years, transferred large numbers of settlers to Ahwaz, while simultaneously depriving the indigenous population of their basic rights.

Activists fear that relocating the capital, if implemented, may push additional numbers of Persian employees, workers, and investors toward Ahwaz, further deepening the demographic changes imposed on the region for decades.

These concerns arise amid what residents describe as the “theft of water” from Ahwazi rivers and its diversion to Persian cities in the central and northern parts of the country an act that has caused severe environmental and agricultural crises within Ahwaz.

Activists believe that transferring populations from Tehran which suffers from an acute water shortage could drive the government to exhaust Ahwazi resources even further to compensate for shortages in Persian areas.

Observers note that Ahwaz has long been targeted by policies aimed at altering its demographic composition, starting with the establishment of modern settlements for Persians, the neglect of infrastructure in Arab villages and towns, and extending to water-transfer projects that have dried up rivers and displaced farmers.

Ahwazi activists call on the international community to closely monitor these “alarming” developments, stressing that any move to relocate the capital must not come at the expense of the people of Ahwaz and their natural resources, nor should it become a pretext for increasing political and demographic pressure on Ahwaz.