Ajam of Iraq

Iraqi Ajam
Total population
50,000
Regions with significant populations
Karbalā', Najaf, Baṣrah
Religion
Shīʿa Islam
Related ethnic groups
Ajam of Bahrain

Ajam of Iraq are Iraqi citizens of Iranian national background or descent. Iranians have a long presence as a minority in Iraq, dating back to antiquity.

Saddam Hussein deported most Iraqi Ajam in the 1970s and 1980s.

History

In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein deported between 350,000[1] to 650,000 Shia Iraqis of Iranian ancestry (Ajam).[2] Most of them went to Iran. Those who could prove an Iranian ancestry in Iran's court received Iranian citizenship (400,000) and some of them returned to Iraq after Saddam.[2]

Culture

Persians in Iraq do not segregate themselves as an ethnic minority, but they integrate with the Iraqi society. Iraqi Persians belong to Twelver Shīʿa Islam – the same religion, sect, and school that most Iraqis belong to.

See also

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Hamshahri Newspaper (In Persian)". hamshahri.org. Retrieved 12 November 2014.