Iranians in Iraq

Iraqi Persians (Persian: ایرانیان عراق, Arabic: إيرانيو العراق) or Iranians in Iraq (Persian: ایرانیان در عراق, Arabic: الإيرانيون في العراق) are Iraqi citizens of Persian descent and background. Persians have had a long presence in Iraq, since the Fall of Babylon.

Iraqi Persians
ايرانيان عراق (Persian)
إيرانيو العراق (Arabic)
Regions with significant populations
Karbalā', Najaf, Baghdad, Suleymaniyah, Maysan, Basra
 Iraq486,000[1]
 Iran400,000[2]
Languages
Persian, Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish
Religion
Shiʿa Islam[3]
Related ethnic groups
Other Persians

History

In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein exiled between 350,000[4][5] to 650,000 Shia Iraqis of Iranian ancestry.[2] Most of them went to Iran. Those who could prove an Iranian/Persian ancestry in Iran's court received Iranian citizenship (400,000) and most of them returned to Iraq immediately after his fall.[2] The population of Persian Iraqis is currently 486,000[6] (not including Iranian residents in Iraq).

Culture

Most Persians Iraqis belong to Twelver Shīʿa Islam, the same religion that most Iraqis belong to. However, a significant portion of them are of Sayyid Iranian heritage of Arab origin which were moved to Iran under the Safavids and returned to Arab lands after the fall of the Safavids. Some even being descended from the al-Musawi clan.

See also

References
  1. Project, Joshua. "Persian in Iraq". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  2. "Hamshahri Newspaper (In Persian)". hamshahri.org. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  3. Pahlavan, Demographic Movements in the Region, p. 147.
  4. Iranica Online
  5. U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)
  6. Project, Joshua. "Persian in Iraq". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
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