Book Description

"Although the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s has been much studied, Ahmadi is opening new avenues by examining the social history of the Iranian border province of Khuzistan. One of the oldest and richest provinces in Iran, its invasion by Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist forces in 1980 triggered the war, but the contested region has a deeper history that sheds light on questions of citizenship, migration, and smuggling vital to the two countries' relationship in the 20th century. Through archival work and oral histories, Ahmadi investigates how border dwellers, provincial leaders, and migrants in the region affected Iran and Iraq's history before, during, and after the war, while studying broader issues of borders and liminality in the region. Although pressured by the government based in Tehran, the inhabitants of Khuzistan nevertheless resisted Iranian nationalistic appeals, as well as attempts to control the border, and instead negotiated local identities and relations amongst themselves as a result of the province's diverse make-up, with a majority of inhabitants composed of Arabs rather than Persians. Migrants or refugees from Iraq were often allowed entrance to the province, and smuggling across the border in both directions was common and seldom restricted. Ahmadi examines the role this transnational movement had in the war and the tactics both countries took to control the oil-rich region, beginning in the 1920s and setting up the role the province would play. Residents were pressured from one side with nationalistic propaganda about their place in the country and with a pan-Arabic argument from the other that sought to separate them from Persian Iran, with provincial leaders trying to obtain the best of both worlds by playing the sides off one another. Ahmadi demonstrates how religious leaders sought to keep the peace, but how some residents were nevertheless radicalized by separatist factions, giving Iraq a toehold in the province and leading to civil unrest after the Islamic Revolution that preceded the invasion. In the meantime, Saddam Hussein expelled Iranians living in Iraq, despite having wooed the Arabs of Khuzistan. Ahmadi explores the nuanced arguments the Ba'athist Party made to distinguish these actions, while also exploring the steps that the new Islamic Republic of Iran took to incorporate Khuzistan into its vision for the country. Last, she examines the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq and the collapse of the Ba'ath Party through the lens of Khuzistan and the consequences for that region"--