Ahvaz County
Ahvaz County () is a county in Khuzestan Province in Iran. The capital of the county is Ahvaz. At the 2006 census, the county's population (including those portions that were later split off to form Bavi County) was 1,317,377, in 274,296 families; excluding those portions, the population was 1,127,230, in 239,666 families. The county is subdivided into two districts: the Central District and Hamidiyeh District. The county has two cities: Ahvaz and Hamidiyeh.
Arab separatism in Khuzestan
The Al-Ahwaz Arab Peoples Democratic Popular Front (AADPF) is based in London and is led by Mahmud Ahmad Al-Ahwazi, aka Abu Bashar. The group calls for human rights and democracy for Iranian Arabs and believes that "Al-Ahwaz" was occupied by Iran in 1925. The ADPF has a number of activists in Iranian custody. Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the Minister of Defense and Logistic Affairs of the Armed Forces, accused Mahmud Ahmad Al-Ahwazi of involvement in the April 2005 unrest, while simultaneously claiming that his group had "zero popularity" amongst Arabs in Khuzestan. The ADPF has also claimed it led what it calls an "intifada" in Khuzestan. Shamkhani also claimed that Mahmud Ahmad Al-Ahwazi was a former member of the
SAVAK (the Shah's secret police) before the revolution who defected to Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War. It is not known how much, if any, of Shamkhani's claims are true.