Noor al-Din Nemati; Arwin Ghaemian
Abstract
Britain and the Arab tribes of Khuzestan (1925-1941)AbstractIn the early 20th century, the British government assumed a significant role in shaping the internal landscape of Iran through ...
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Britain and the Arab tribes of Khuzestan (1925-1941)AbstractIn the early 20th century, the British government assumed a significant role in shaping the internal landscape of Iran through the acquisition of oil concessions and the establishment of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. However, the eruption of the First World War (1914-1918) and the Russian Revolution (1917) posed a formidable challenge to the continuation of British hegemony over the operational areas of the oil company. Consequently, London embarked on formulating a novel strategy that accorded utmost importance to the consolidation of power within Iran, considering it as the cornerstone of its foreign policy. The ascension of Reza Shah (1925-1941) and his authoritarian approach towards modernization and the centralization of political authority inevitably clashed with the interests of the Arab tribes, leading to population displacement and extensive migration of the Khuzestani tribes to neighboring Arab countries. This study endeavors to address the following question: What was the nature of the relationship between Reza Shah and the Arab tribes of Khuzestan? The central hypothesis posited in this research contends that the support strategy employed by the British government and the oil company, aimed at concentrating political power and fostering modernization in Iran, proved effective in mitigating population displacement and large-scale migration of Arab tribes to neighboring nations.Keyword: Britain, Iran, oil, Arab tribes.AbstractIn the early 20th century, the British government assumed a significant role in shaping the internal landscape of Iran through the acquisition of oil concessions and the establishment of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. However, the eruption of the First World War (1914-1918) and the Russian Revolution (1917) posed a formidable challenge to the continuation of British hegemony over the operational areas of the oil company. Consequently, London embarked on formulating a novel strategy that accorded utmost importance to the consolidation of power within Iran, considering it as the cornerstone of its foreign policy.
