Ahwazis and advocates for the Ahwazi cause solemnly mark the passing of 99 years since the catastrophe of the occupation of Ahwaz, with every detail etched into their memory. Annually, on April 20th, the Ahwazi people commemorate a bitter memory, reflecting on the forced displacement, cultural erasure, and plunder of resources led by the Iranian occupation in 1925, all driven by the determination in reclaiming their stolen homeland rights.

Our people's rightful demands cannot be ignored or neglected in international and regional arenas, nor can they be compromised for the sake of economical interests between the Iranian occupiers and any the other parties. Rather, they must be taken into account as the demands of a people under occupation, suffering from daily marginalization, persecution, and repression since the end of its Arab legitimacy at the hands of Reza Shah Pahlavi until today.The Iranian occupiers must fully realize that our cause cannot be eradicated through executions, imprisonments, displacement, impoverishment, or intimidation. Such criminal policies only strengthen our resolve to demand our usurped rights until they are regained, as evidenced by the sacrifices of martyrs and the tens of thousands of prisoners, including women, children, the elderly, and men.

 Undoubtedly, the resilient Ahwazi people confront one of the most entrenched occupations globally, undeterred by the challenges it presents. This occupation, which lacks humanitarian logic and respects neither international nor humanitarian laws, is a system founded on terrorism, freedom suppression, and persecution of peoples within its fabricated geography, as evidenced by reports from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Decision-makers in the European Union must understand that the Iranian terrorist regime, which directly contributes to supporting the authoritarian Russian regime in its war against the Ukrainian people, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents, and thus its involvement in destabilizing the security and stability of the Middle East through its support for its terrorist militias, cannot be tolerated or overlooked. All diplomatic and economic relations with it must be severed to put an end to its violations and serious crimes.

 Our demands today on the occasion of commemorating this painful anniversary are:

Firstly, the affirmation of the illegitimacy of the Iranian occupation of Ahwaz, calling on the international community to compel Iran to fulfill its obligations as an occupying state towards the Ahwazi people and territory as stipulated by international laws in The Hague Regulations of 1907 (Articles 42-56) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (Articles 27-34 and 47-78), in addition to some provisions of the First Additional Protocol and customary international humanitarian law.

 Secondly, we call for an end to the Iranian occupation of Ahwaz and the restoration of all our legal and legitimate rights, as recognized by the universally accepted principle of self-determination for oppressed peoples under occupation.

 Thirdly, we demand the immediate release of all political prisoners held by the Iranian regime and an end to the dissemination of coerced confessions broadcasted by Iranian state media under the directives of the Revolutionary Guard intelligence apparatus.

 Fourthly, we urge the German government, and by extension, the international community, to condemn the Iranian regime's persecution and targeted assassinations of Ahwazi political activists and other individuals opposed to occupation, residing both in the European Union and worldwide, perpetrated through its network of terrorist cells.

This statement is issued by the Coordination Committee for Demonstrations in Germany.