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 Spring concurrent incidents
In Iranian Khuzestan, according to Saudi "Al Arabiya", Lebanese Yalibnan, the Guardian, there were large scale protests, declared as "Day of Rage" by Ahvaz Arab minority, in the city of Ahvaz – capital of the Khuzestan province, and the nearby town of Hamidieh. The protests marked six years since the violent 2005 Ahvaz unrest. The protesters were "demanding more rights and humanitarian benefits", as well as independence. The Revolutionary Guard Corps used tear gas to disperse the demonstrations, while using live bullets in some neighborhoods. Al-Arabiya reported that when the protests began, the city was blockaded by Iranian security forces, who "broke up demonstrations by force" and that "15 people from Ahwaz have been killed and dozens have been wounded". The Guardian puts the casualty rate at 12 dead Arabic-speaking Sunnis, based on Shirin Ebadi's letter to the UN.