Word: khuzestan
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...civilians. Few officials held out much prospect that the government delegation would be able to achieve anything except a fragile ceasefire. Moreover, any hint of compromise on autonomy for the Kurds could raise the hopes of other dissident nationalist minorities-Azerbaijanis, Turkomans, the Arabs of the vital oilfields in Khuzestan, and even the Baluchis in the far southeast...
...other words, the country's bounteous oilfields have now been Islamized. The 39 oil wells in the Khuzestan area, the modern refinery (the world's largest) at Abadan, the depots, pipelines and innumerable areas where drilling and exploration formerly went on, all belong to Khomeini loyalists. The mullah has become the archon of the oilfields. His picture is everywhere...
...mullah's power was vividly demonstrated last week when one of his personal spokesmen, Mehdi Bazargan, 61, traveled to Khuzestan to relay Khomeini's back-to-work order. Bazargan was welcomed in regal style. Wherever he went, he was protected by burly oil workers who muzzled and bodily removed hecklers from his audiences. Local mullahs appeared constantly at Bazargan's side. "I have not come here as a strikebreaker," said Bazargan unnecessarily, since fealty and brute force had given him the most receptive of audiences...
...weeks, rumors circulated in Tehran that Communist sympathizers had taken over the oilfields. The concerns were understandable, but false. The Tudeh (Masses) Party, Iran's Communist-oriented, outlawed dissident movement, is impotent in Khuzestan. "If there are 5,000 Communists down here, that's a lot," said a Khomeini militant. "They are nothing...
Amraie's laudable dedication to his job is matched by that of many of the workers, but for different reasons. The day after the NIOC manager delivered his tribute to his revolution-minded employees, an oil truck burrowed through a fierce blizzard on the Zagros mountain road from Khuzestan to Tehran. At the mountain hamlet of Zalian, the driver came to a stop. Inside a shelter, he performed the ritual Muslim ablutions. Then, barefoot, the worshiper stepped onto a spotless linoleum platform and began his prayers. Afterward, he explained that he was willing to brave the storm...