Local Grievances
Endemic poverty in Khuzestan is contrasted with the wealth generated by the province, particularly from oil, petrochemicals and agriculture. This poverty, however, is a fact of life throughout Iran for all ethnic groups.
The CIA World Factbook estimates that approximately 1% of Iran's 68,017,860 citizens are Arabic-speakers, of whom the majority live in Khuzestan, with 1% speaking Arabic as their native or primary language. Articles 15, 19 and 48 of the Iranian Constitution establish the basis for ethnic, linguistic and cultural minority rights in the fields of education, employment and the distribution of resources. However, human rights groups have claimed that Iranian minorities often face discrimination and estrictions on social, cultural, linguistic and religious freedoms (see Ethnic minorities in Iran). Minority issues are therefore a major feature of political debate in Khuzestan.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Khuzestan Province
Famous quotes containing the words local and/or grievances:
“The country is fed up with children and their problems. For the first time in history, the differences in outlook between people raising children and those who are not are beginning to assume some political significance. This difference is already a part of the conflicts in local school politics. It may spread to other levels of government. Society has less time for the concerns of those who raise the young or try to teach them.”
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