The poorest areas of the country are those inhabited by ethnic minorities, such as by the Baluchis in Sistan va Baluchestan Province and by Arabs in the southwest.

Much of the damage suffered by Khuzestan Province during the eight-year war with Iraq has not been repaired; consequently, the quality of life of the largely Arab local population was degraded.

Some Iran experts and analysts at the time speculated that the move was part of a plan by the conservative establishment to discredit the reformist camp among Arabs in the run-up to the 2005 presidential poll.

Ali Yunesi, the intelligence minister at the time, said those arrested in Khuzestan were mainly "young, innocent people" who had been provoked by "real criminals".

Defense Minister at the time – Ali Shamkhani, who is an ethnic Arab, was dispatched by the Reformist Government of Khatami, to the Ahvaz area to look into the reasons behind the unrest.

He met with local leaders, and he stressed that ethnic Arabs are an integral part of the country but acknowledged that Khuzestan Province suffers from "underdevelopment".

[6] According to an April 2006 report by the Amnesty International, on 4 November 2005, during a Muslim feast celebrating the end of Ramadan, several hundred Iranian Arab demonstrators marched towards the centre of Ahvaz city, and were met by the security forces, who reportedly fired tear gas grenades into the crowd causing two youths to fall into the Karoun River and drown, apparently under the effects of the tear gas which caused temporary paralysis.

[16] Amnesty International has also stated that there were further clashes in Khuzestan between Iranian Arabs and the security forces on 11 and 12 January 2006, during the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, which reportedly resulted in 3 deaths and 40 injured persons.

In a letter, written to the UN high commissioner for human rights, Iran's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi stated that "more than 12 people were killed, around 20 injured and tens of protesters have been arrested.