The wealth of southern Iran goes to the center, and deprivation remains there

The wealth of southern Iran goes to the center, and deprivation remains there

Neymeh Dostdar - The issue of southern Iran, above all else, is the question of the relationship between the government and its citizens: whether people in these areas are equal citizens who have the right to decide about their land, resources, and future, or a population that should hand over its resources and land to the center and pay the costs of its security and development?

The recent military attacks on southern Iran have once again placed provinces directly in the line of war—provinces that for decades have been paying for the security, energy, and development of the center, without having a proportionate share of wealth and power. Khuzestan, Bushehr, Hormozgan, and Sistan and Baluchestan play a vital role in Iran’s economic and geopolitical structure, but the people of these regions continue to face poverty, unemployment, lack of water, weak infrastructure, discrimination, and political repression.

War has made this historical inequality even more visible. Oil and gas facilities, ports, sea routes, and military bases in southern Iran are strategically important for the Islamic Republic. However, urban residents—who in the government’s calculations are considered a sensitive security point—are deprived of safe water, reliable electricity, well-equipped hospitals, and enough job opportunities.

The structure of power views southern Iran as a land of resources and borders, but the people of these areas are often only seen when they are supposed to defend the soil, refinery, port, or strait. The demands of these same people for access to water, employment, education, political participation, and the right to live equally have repeatedly been met with indifference or a security response.