Khaz'al Ibn Jabir Al-kaabi - Conflict With Reza Khan

Conflict With Reza Khan

In 1921, realizing the threat posed by Reza Khan Mirpanj (Reza Shah), who had just staged a coup d'etat with Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee, Khaz'al proceeded to take steps in order to protect himself. He attempted to form an alliance with all the Bakhtiari, Lur, and Khamseh tribes, in order to prevent Reza Khan from gaining too much power. His ultimate aim was that through this tribal alliance the Zagros Mountains would become a nearly impenetrable barrier against the forces of the central government. However, the various tribal groups often clashed with each other and were unable to come to agreements, and his proposal failed.

He then turned to Ahmad Shah Qajar and the Imperial Court of Tehran, presenting himself as a fiercely loyal defender and advocate of the Qajar dynasty, and calling upon the Court to take action against the ambitions of Reza Khan. This eventually came to nothing as well. Khaz'al then sought to ally himself with the Majles (Iranian Parliament) opposition to Reza Khan, writing a number of letters to the opposition leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Modarres. In these letters Khaz'al presented himself as a staunch constitutionalist from the very beginning of the movement, emphatic as an Iranian nationalist, and a liberal democrat who found Reza Khan's authoritarianism to be personally offensive. The opposition accepted Khaz'al's proposal cautiously and not without much deliberation, as they did not trust him. However, the parliamentary opposition to Reza Khan failed.

Khaz'al then turned to the British for help, and this time presented himself as a defender of Islam and Shari'a (Islamic law) against Reza Khan's Iranian secularism. He claimed that his people had only recently immigrated to the province and that they had no ties to the people of Iran. He proposed that because of this background, it would not be difficult to separate the Arabs of Khuzestan from Iran. Forced to choose between Khaz'al and Reza Khan, the British completely withdrew their support and protection for Khaz'al's rule, claiming that the only reason they had supported him to begin with was due to the central government's inability to properly enforce its rule in Khuzestan. The Qajar dynasty subsequently collapsed, and Ahmad Shah was deposed.