Foreign Influence
See also: Anti-IranianismSome Iranian opposition parties operating abroad launched a campaign to stop the American Enterprise Institute hosting a conference entitled "The Unknown Iran: Another Case for Federalism?" in October 2005. A petition to stop the event attracted more than 1,000 signatures from members of the Iranian diaspora. Some added that the meeting indicated a new alliance between US neo-conservatives and Iranian separatists, ahead of a possible invasion of Iran by the US and its allies. Dr Ali Al-Taie, a member of the Democratic Solidarity Party of Ahwaz which upholds a federalist agenda for Iran, said at the debate: "When it comes to ethnic rights, Persian opposition groups are on the same side as the terrorist Islamic Republic. If this continues, we will see the Balkanization of Iran." But he added that: "Despite the long history of persecution, the Arabs of Khuzestan/al-Ahwaz are Iranian. There will never be, nor should there be, disintegration or separatism in Iran. Rather, all Iranian people, regardless of their ethnic background, should live under a pluralistic, tolerant, and federal society."
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Khuzestan Province
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