Khuzestan


Karoon river

AHWAZ

Capital of wealthy Khuzestan province in the southwest Iran, and bordering on cities such as Shushtar and Dezful to the north, Ramhormoz to the east, Shadegan, Bandar-e Mahshahr, Abadan, and Khorramshahr to the south, Ahwaz is situated on both banks of Karun River. Being an oil center, a transportation hub, and an industrial city with flourishing metallurgical, petrochemical, textile, sugar cane, power generating, and food-processing industries, it occupies an area of more than 200 square kilometers. It is terribly hot and humid in spring and summer. Its population amounts to more than 1,000,000, mainly Shi’ite Muslims. Its elevation from the sea levels is only 18 meters. The best season for traveling to Ahwas and the whole Khuzestan province is from January to late April. As an ancient city, its name appears in many inscriptions of ancient Iran. Its original name, according to archaeological evidence is said to have been Oxin. Achaemenians called it Avaz or Avaja. During the Sassanian period (3rd century AD), Ahwaz was rebuilt by Ardashir I, who named it Hormuzd Ardashir. In the 4th century AD, Ahwas became a seat of bishorpic, and a large church was built there. However, it was renamed to Souq al-Ahwaz following the Arab Conquest. It was an important trading center with the Arab world in the 12th and 13th centuries but later declined. During the Qajar period a harbor was built by the order of Nasser od-Din Shah (during whose reign the town was called Nasseri) not far from the present location of Ahwaz on the Karun river for trading purposes, and the river was opened to foreign trade in 1888. Finally it was called Ahwaz and designated as the capital of Khuzestan province during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1924. Karun is a 900-km long river, which rises in the Zagros Mountains, west Iran, and flows south to the Arvand (or Shatt ol-Arab) on the Iraqi border. Since the construction of Trans-Iranian Railway during World War II of the Karun river has been navigable up to Ahwaz for shallow drift vessels; rapids prevent further upstream passage except during high water in April and May. Five bridges connect both parts of the town. Two of these bridges are A) Railway Bridge and, locally known as Pol-e Felezi; and B) Suspension Bridge, both built by the order of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1932 and 1935, respectively. The discovery of oil nearby in the early 20th century restored the city to its former importance. The modern part of Ahwaz, the administrative and industrial center, is on the right bank of the Karun River, but the population is still concentrated in the old section on the left bank. Ahwaz is linked by road, rail and oil pipelines to Tehran and to ports on the Persian Gulf. During the 8-year Iraq-Iran War and the Holy Defense against Iraqi aggression, the city served as major logistics and resistance center. It was severely attacked and damaged by the enemy during the war. The city has little to offer the sightseer, and for most foreigners it is no more than a convenient staging post for a tour of the region. Good asphalt roads radiate from Ahwaz to all parts of the province, particularly to Abadan, Andimeshk, Chogha Zanbil, Dezful, Khorramshahr, Shushtar, and Susa. EXCURSIONS AROUND AHWAZ

Chogha Zanbil

Chogha Zanbil is some 45-km southeast of Susa. If you are in Ahwaz, start early in the morning, and allow at least four hours for the trip. The ziggurat here is the best surviving example of Elamite architecture anywhere and one of the most memorable sites in Iran. Originally it had five concentric stories but only three remain to a total height of some 25 m. It’s hard to believe that such an imposing landmark could have been lost to the world for over 2,500 years, as it was until accidentally discovered during an Anglo-Iranian Oil Company aerial survey. A New Zealander officer of the company named Browne, noticed what appeared to be a high series of concentric squares on high ground near the river Dez. The French archaeological mission at Susa were informed and made preliminary soundings from 1936 to 1939 under de Mecquenem, but it was only between 1951 and 1962 that excavations were undertaken by Roman Ghirshman, revealing not only the largest best preserved ziggurat of Iran and Mesopotamia but also three palaces, eleven temples and cult installations, and a reservoir within two series of fortification walls, the smaller 400 square meters and the larger 800 by 1200 meters. Iranian Archaeologists, particularly Professor Ezzatollah Negahban, have been unearthing since 1965 the remains of the Elamite city of Haft Tappeh (Seven Hills). A few of the objects found as well as those unearthed at Chogha Zanbil are exhibited at the Susa Museum as well as the National Museum of Iran in Tehran. There existed throughout the ancient Near East a tendency to admire and worship the mountain. Huge ziggurats relieved the flat monotony of the Mesopotamian plain, ritual imitations of the familiar sacred mountains, which ring the Iranian plateau. Thus, even if the impressive development of these colossal structures was Mesopotamian (ziggurats were in Sumer by about 2,200 BC), their inspiration and meaning was clearly Persian. The men who came down from eastern lands could not bring with them their mountains, so they made their own "Holy Hill" or "Mountain of All Lands". Ziggurats came to include all feasible decorative treatments: cone mosaics, colored and glazed bricks. The Elamites, whose first kingdom dates from the third millennium, provided the link between Iran and Sumer. Perhaps greatest of all ziggurats is the Elamite Chogha Zanbil. This earliest known Iranian monument of imposing dimensions and character, rivaling the pyramids of Egypt, was built at Dur Untash, a city near Susa, by Untash-gal, King of Elam, about 1,250 BC, and in honor of Inshushinak, guardian god of Susa, and reached the height of its splendor in 1,200 BC, its downfall occurring in 640 BC when the sun of Ashurbanipal set over the Elamites. The ziggurat served as both temple and tomb. It was built on a low base as a precaution against flooding, for once this was a fertile and forested area, although nowadays the setting is bleak, barren and windswept, and hot even in winter. Composed in five separately built concentric towers of varying heights, the innermost and tallest was 50 meters about the ground level. The base is more than 1,200 meters long, only the three first stages are more or less intact, overlooked by a shapeless mass of bricks which have returned to a clay-like condition. The tower was solid throughout; it was built starting from the center toward the outside. The inside was made with raw bricks and the outside with the baked bricks. There is only one row of small vaulted rooms, without communication among each other, looking out onto the terraces. On each of the sides, staircases gave access to the higher stages. Wandering around the Ziggurat and the temple, the visitor will notice the cuneiform inscriptions on hundreds of bricks in the walls. King Untash had his name recorded on every one of these bricks at Dur Untash for he regarded it as a religious center as important as Susa, which of course had its ziggurate at that time. On these bricks King Untash names more than twenty deities to whom he had built sanctuaries, showing how far the Persian religious mind was to come before the revelations of monotheistic Zoroastrianism and Islam. There was originally a complex of chambers, tombs, tunnels and water channels in the lowest story, as well as two temples to Inshushinak on the southeast side. The ziggurat was surrounded by a paved courtyard protected behind a wall, outside which were the living quarters of the town, as well as 11 temples dedicated to various Elamite gods and goddesses, of which only the largest, to the northwest, remains in fair condition. The rest of the city is not well preserved, but there are still remains of three simple but well constructed royal palaces in the eastern corner of the town. One of these was the king’s residence and another probably the harem, and a royal gate. It’s still possible to walk down to a vaulted tomb chamber under the remains of the king’s palace, but you will need a powerful torch to see anything. There are also traces of an ingeniously designed water and drainage system. Northwest of the ziggurat there’s a brick platform which appears to be an altar.

Dezful

Extremely hot in summer, and with an elevation of 120 meters above sea level, Dezful is located 160 km to the north of Ahwaz. Its name meaning Bridge Fortress, is derived from the name of a bridge built on the perennial Ab-e Dez or Dez river during the reign of Shapour I (242-271 AD) using Roman soldiers taken prisoner at the battle of Edessa in 260 AD. The bridge is 120 meters long and consists of twenty-two arches. Its foundation and stone piers are Sassanian, while the arches and the roadway are more recent. The Arabs admired the bridge, calling the town al-Qantara (The Bridge), a name to stir memories of the Spanish Alcantara, from the same root. Until very recent years, the inhabitants had the sensible summer custom of retiring from their houses into an underground chamber (sardab) hewn out of the friable rock. Andimeshk City (11km) and Dez Dam (32 km) are in the vicinity of Dezful. JAM’E MOSQUE From the architectural point of view and on account of its ancient prayer hall and stone columns with evident signs of deterioration and wear, the Jam’e Mosque of Dezful counts as one of the early Islamic monuments, which has been further expanded and repaired in the 13th and 18th centuries AD. The date 1744 AD inscribed on the portal of the Mosque is indicative of such repairs. The eastern ivan of the mosque has been constructed in 1698 AD under the Safavids, while its portal and minarets belong to the 18th century AD. The whole structure is an imitation of the techniques used in Ivan-e Karkheh.

IVAN-E KARKHEH

In a distance of 18 km from Dezful and overlooking the charming scenery along the banks of the river Karkheh, stand the ruins of this spendid brick palace from the Sassanian period. Around the palace, there is a rampart and the monument itself possesses the remains of a large and magnificent hall, wherein the court ceremonies of the Sassanian monarchs must have been held. Haft Tappeh Meaning Seven Hills, it is located 15 km to the south of Susa, and on the left of the road leaving Chogha Zanbil for Susa. Archaeological excavations on the site were carried out under the supervision of the world famous Iranian archaeologist Dr. Ezzatollah Negahban. As a result, relics of a dark period of the Elamite history (1350-1500 BC) were unearthed. It was shown that the world’s oldest vault was built here on the tomb of Tapati Ahar (the Iiamite ruler or king of Haft Tappeh) and the adjacent mausoleum. Here you can see the remains of the 2nd millennium BC Elamite town that once had several ziggurats as well as various royal buildings, tombs and temples. Although there is less to see than at Chogha Zanbil or Susa, the site here is much more spread than the other two. In a special archaeological museum (already closed because of being demolished during the Iraq-Iran War) visitors could see exclusively the objects found at the site.

Susa

Susa (Shush) is 117 km north-northwest of Ahwaz via a busy and sometimes dangerous road. Although, it is on the Tehran-Ahwaz railway line, it is not practical to get there by train. Visitors starting from Ahwaz, normally leave their hotel early in the morning to arrive in Susa before the worst heat of the day. For you will find absolutely no shelter of any kind on the site, neither is there an accommodation or a restaurant, for compared with Esfahan very few people ever come here, but tourists who do not visit Susa and the more immediately appealing ziggurat at Chogha Zanbil are missing a crucial experience of Iran. Although an Englishman, W K Loftus, was the first archaeologist, in 1852, unquestionably to identify the modern Shush with the classical Susa and the Biblical Shushan, it is to a succession of French archaeologists, Dieulafoy, de Morgan, de Mecquenem, Ghirshman and Perrot, that credit is due for the systematic excavation of the site. Loftus, following the stories of travelers like Rawlinson (of Bisotun fame), Sir Austen Layard (of Neneveh fame), and the Russian Baron de Bode, started trial digs and discovered that his friend General Williams had come across a palace similar to those of Persepolis. Cuneiform inscription proved that the palace was actually built by Darius I. Loftus describes the city, as it must have been in the great days of the Achaemenians: It is difficult to conceive a more imposing site than Susa, as it stood in the days of its Kayanian splendor – its great citadel and columnar edifices raising their stately heads above groves of date, konar, and lemon trees – and backed by rich pastures and golden seas of corn and the distant snow-clad mountains. Neither Babylon nor Persepolis could compare with Susa in position – watered by her noble rivers, producing crops without irrigation, clothed with grass in spring, and within a moderate journey of delightful summer clime. There is no treasure in the sense of jewels or adorning. One the spot, the site is very disappointing for those who seek fine ruins. The visitor to Susa will drive first up to the castle, which tops the acropolis on one of the four tappehs, or mounds, on which Susa was built. Marvelous painted pottery from Susa I – the earliest Phase – was discovered here and can be seen in the castle storerooms to the Mission (and possibly more conveniently in the Louvre). Pottery dating back to the fourth millennium BC proves that Susa was one of the oldest cities in the world. In fact a prehistoric settlement from at least the forth millennium BC, and an important Elamite city from about the middle of the third millennium, Susa reached its first peak under the reign of Untash Gal, who built Shush as his administrative capital and founded Choga Zanbil as his religious center. Shush was burnt around 640 BC by the Assyrian Ashurbanipal, at about the same time he destroyed Chogha Zanbil, but it came back to prominence and its Golden Age began with the advent of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenian Empire of Iran. Standing as it did between the Aryans of the east and the Semites of the west, Susa was a far more convenient administrative center for the new and rapidly growing Empire than was Pasargadae. Cyrus the Great probably hastened the revival of the city, which became the winter capital of the Archaemenians, while Darius I and Artaxerxes Mnemon built great palaces there. It was from Susa that Xerxes set out on his great expedition against Greece. Although he failed in his attempt to subjugate the whole of Greece, he succeeded in despoiling both Delphi and Athens, and he depositied their wealth in his treasury at Susa on his return there. Alexander the Great captured the town in 331 BC. After this the Sassanian Artaxerxes I and Shapur I were the only monarch before modern times to take an interest in Susa. The town prospered under the latter, becoming an important center of Christianity in the 4th century AD as well as the Arabs, but steadily declined after the Mongol invasion of Iran. Many fine examples of pottery from various periods showing the development of the typically Persian highly stylized animal motifs, as well as bronzes have been found here, and some examples are on display at Tehran’s National Museum of Iran, while a famous 4th century bull’s-head capital from Shush is now in the Louvre. The site is built on four small mounds. If you enter at the gate from the street, you cannot fail to notice the fortress on top of the tallest mound, the Acropolis. This castle, quite unlike any other archaeological camp, was built by the French Archaeological Service at the end of the 19th century as a necessary defense against the unpacified Arab tribes of the region, and is now probably the most imposing structure at Susa. Almost nothing remains of the buildings of the Acropolis on which the castle stands, which was the site of the earliest pre-historic settlement and later of the main Elamite royal buildings and then of the Achaemenian citadel. Next to the Acropolis is the largest mound, the Royal Town, once the quarter of the court officials, which has revealed the remains of many periods from the Elamite to the Arab. Northwest of the Royal Town is the Apadana, where Darius I built his residence and two other palaces. Two very well preserved foundation tablets found beneath the site of Darius’ Palace, one in Elamite and the other in Babylonia, record the noble ancestry of its founder and the far-flung origins of its materials and workers – from as far east as India to as far west as Abyssinia – as a piece of propaganda to show the might of the Achaemenian Empire at the time. The tablets are now in the Tehran’s National Museum of Iran. After giving praise to the supreme God, Ahura Mazda, Darius said: I constructed this palace, its decoration was brought from afar…The ground was dug out until I came to the firm soil and a ditch was made…and the gravel that was thrown in, and the bricks that were molded – they were the people of Babylon who did this work. The wood called naucina (Cedar) was brought from a mountain called Lebanon. This inscription shows that Darius drew not only his materials, but also his workmen from all parts of his vast empire. During the reign of Darius, many roads were constructed to serve Susa: the great Royal Road all the way west via the Tigris below Arbela and Harran to Sardis and Ephesus in Asia Minor, the road north through Lurestan to Hamadan; and a third east to the sacred city of Persepolis and Pasargadae, a part of stone-paved surface of which can be seen near Behbahan. The remains of 72 columns and bulls’-head capitals here show that the palace was built on the same lines as that at Persepolis, constructed soon afterwards. The Artisans’ Town mound dates from the Parthian and Seleucid eras. Traces of an Arab mosque were found here, but little else of substance remains. The museum between the entrance and the Acropolis was closed for renovation in the past years. It’s open from 7 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. (7 a.m. to noon on Thursday), daily except Friday.

The Long History of Susa

C7000 Traces of an inhabited village 5000-4000 Painted pottery civilization 3800-3300 First Susan built-up area 3300-3000 Sumerian influence 3000-2800 Creation of proto-Elamite writing 2800-2375 Elam adopts Sumerian civilization 2375-2250 Elam integrated into Akkad Empire 2250 Tuzirishushinak, prince of Susa 2100-2000 Sumerian King Anur, ruler of Susa 2000-1900 Elamite King of Simashki dominates Ur. 1900-1300 Era of Great Princes 1500- Aftogre monuments 1270-1240 Untash Gal founds royal city of Chagha Zanbil 1207-1171 Shutruk Nahhunte, King of Elam, conquers Babylonia 1120-700 Era of Iranian migration; Lorestan bronzes 720-640 Neo-Elamite renaissance; 639 Assyrians destroy Susa and Kingdom of Elam. 520- Susa, winter residence of Achaemenian kings. 331 Alexander seizes Susa; end of Achaemenian dynasty 260 BC Shapur I orders major hydraulic works in area 500 AD Susa, persecution of Christians by Mazdaists. 638 Susa conquered by Arabs after a 6-month battle 1218 Complete destruction by Mongols. A visit to Susa is never complete without an excursion to the Chogha Zanbil ziggurat.

DANIEL’S TOMB

The reputed tomb of the Prophet Daniel, real or supposed, is situated on the east bank of the river Sha’ur; immediately to the east rises the great mound of Susa. It is a building surmounted by a pineapple cone in white plaster and it is clearly of no great antiquity. It is typical of this part of Iran and also of Iraq. If we can believe the Book of Daniel, the Prophet was closely associated with Susa during his lifetime; it was at Shushan the Palace that he had his vision of the ram with two horns, one of which was higher than the other. According to Islamic sources, the Muslim Arabs discovered the coffin containing the Prophet’s remains in the castle of Susa when they occupied the city in the seventh century AD. On learning of this discovery, the Caliph Omar decreed that the river Sha’ur should be temporarily diverted and the coffin interred in the river bed; the stream was then to be allowed to resume its normal course (one may compare the story of the burial of Alaric in the bed of the Busento in Italy). Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Susa in 1165, has a different story to tell; he claims that he saw the coffin containing the Prophet’s remains suspended by chains from the center of a bridge over the river. It would appear that while the remains had been interred on the eastern side of the river, the inhabitants on that side had enjoyed such unparalleled prosperity that it aroused the envy and jealousy of those on the west side. Feelings rose so high that fighting almost broke out, but a compromise was reached whereby the remains were interred for a year, first on the west side and then on the east side, and so on. When the Seljuk ruler Sultan Sanjar (who died in 1157 AD) heard of this arrangement, he said that it denoted a certain lack of respect for Daniel’s memory, and gave orders for the coffin to be suspended from the center of the bridge, so that those on either bank could receive equal benefit. Of these two stories the first appears to be the better founded, but we have no means of obtaining any proof. Moreover, there seems to be nothing on record as to when the Prophet’s remains (if, indeed, they are his) were transferred to their present resting-place in the shrine. The inhabitants of Susa and the surrounding district have, however, no doubts as to the authenticity of the remains, which they regard as possessing remarkable curative properties, as well as the power to bring rain in time of draught.

Shushtar

Located 126 km to the north of Ahwaz, in an elevation of 150 meters above sea level, Shushtar is constructed on a soft rock in the upstream of which the Karun River is divided into two branches. No one knows exactly when Shushtar was founded. According to legend it was second oldest city after Susa, and probably existed in pre-Sassanian times. It was the scene of series of fabulous exploits under the aegis of Shapur I, was besieged for six months during the Arab invasion, and experienced a further wave of prosperity in Mongol times. It was not until the eighteen century that the descent began. Shushtar was the scene of extensive fighting during the Afghan wars. Half the population perished in a plague in 1831-32. Yet by any standards Shushtar is an extraordinary place. It stands on the left bank of the Karun, a few kilometers out on the plain below the last gorge. Sightseeing in the Town

BRIDGES

In the vicinity of the town, Roman prisoners built several barrages and dams on an arm of the Karun river for the Sassanian king Shapour I (241-272 AD) after his victory over Valerian (260 AD) at Edessa, in northern Mesopotamia. Valerian’s bridge, the largest dambridge, 165 meters long, is approximately at the exit of Shushtar. It now has only twenty-eight arches on the left bank and seven on the right bank. It was built of carefully bounded stones bound together with cement. To prevent erosion by the rough waters before the dam, the river bed was paved with large stone slabs together with cement. By means of this dam and other hydraulic works in the neighborhood, Shapour greatly increased the irrigated area in the vicinity, enabling large quantities of sugar cane and other crops to be grown. At Band –e Gargar, at the entrance of the town, and at Band-e Mizan a little farther on, we can see the remains of two further dams, probably dating from the Sassanian period.

MASJID-E JOM’EH

Meaning Friday Mosque, it is an early Islamic monument of the 9th century AD and possesses a minaret, several stone columns and numerous inscriptions (bordering its mihrab) bearing a number of dates. Said to have been erected by the Abbassid Caliph Al Mu’tazzu Bellah, the inscription dates of the Mosque (1053, 1284, 1526, 1761, and 1798 AD) are indicative of repeated repairs carried out therein in the later periods. The construction of the minaret of the Mosque has been attributed to Sheikh Uvais ibn Sheikh Hassan Chupani (1419 AD) and to the Chupanid period. The main prayer hall in the northern part possesses a superb wooden manbar (pulpit) with an inscription upon it bearing the name of Mansur Abul Harith and the date (1053 AD). To the north of the Mosque there are 12 rows of columns plus 8 more columns to the south, each about 5 meters high. The high arches of the monument together with its lofty ivans and the structural technique of the prayer hall make it sufficiently clear that it must belong to early Islamic period. ALAMUT: see under Qazvin. ADDRESSES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS ACCESS AND DISTANCES: 922 km to Tehran. ACCIDENTS: Enghelab Street--33334, 30554. AIR AGENT: Asseman Air – 46061-2. Iran Air Office, north side of Pasdaran Blvd, west of the airport road 42094. AIRPORT: On the northeast edge of Ahwaz, south of Pasdaran Blvd 442094-6. BANKS AND EXCHANGE OFFICES: Bank Mellat, Ahwaz Branch 64067. Bank Melli Iran, West side of Ayatollah Montazeri Street, south of Shohada Square 224631-3. Bank Saderat Iran, Ahwaz Branch 227042. BOOK SHOPS: 1. Farhang 224774 2.Golestan 229741 3. Hafez 223221 4. Ja’fari 223225 5. Khayyam 223221 6. Matbooat-e Bein ol-Melali 222593 BUS TERMINAL: At the far west of town on Enghelab Street. Altogether 19 cooperative bus companies take passengers from Ahwaz to all other provincial capital and towns. Here, we give you telephone numbers of five cooperative bus companies, for urgent contact: Cooperative No. 1 (Iran Payma): 71224 Cooperative No. 2 (Pars Payma): 72242 Cooperative No. 3: 74678 Cooperative No. 4: 79824 Cooperative No. 15: 79988

CITY DIALING CODE NUMBER:

The dialing code for Ahwaz is 061. DRUG STORE (24 HOUR): Alavi, Dr. Shari’ati Ave, 223771. Sa’di, Imam Khomeini Ave, corner of Moslem Street 222997. Salamat-e Nou, Imam Khomeini Ave 223658.

EMERGENCIES:

The emergency clinic is opposite the Park-e Mellat on the west bank of the river. Dial 118 or 335900. FIRE STATION: 221112, 112. GOVERNOR’S OFFICE: Ostandari: next to the Municipality of Ahwaz, Dr. Fatemi Street, northwest of Javad Afshar Square 331070-3.

Farmandari

337014-5.

MEDICAL SERVICES:

Imam Khomeini Hospital, Montazeri Street 228075. Razi, Felestin Street 335935. Shahid Chamran (Golestan), Kuy-e Golestan 331042-5. Sina, Kuy-e Abdollah 224063.

MUNICIPALITY:

Next to the Governor’s office (Ostandari), north of Dr. Fatemi Street, northwest of Javad-e Afshari Square 335076-80.

POLICE:

Opposite the west corner of the Bagh-e Melli, 150 meters north of Shohada Square 22231-3. Road Police of Ahwaz 226488, 332667. Traffic Police 33334-5.

POST AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS:

The main post office: on Javad-e Afshari Square. The main telephone office: Ayatollah Montazeri Street, at its intersection with Imam Khomeini Avenue 338081-4.

RAILWAY STATION:

There are at least four daily trains to Tehran: 3 express (15.5 hours) and one regular (18.5 hours). The train station (332021-7) for passengers is on the west side of the river, and the line from Ahwaz station runs in two directions: northward to Tehran via Andimeshk, Arak, and Qum: southward to Khorramshahr. Tickets must be purchased few hours before departure.

RESTAURANTS:

Ghoncheh Restaurant

, Prad Street 513952.

Kenar Rud (Riverside) Restaurant

, on the west bank of the river, a pleasant 300-meter walk north of the suspension bridge, popular on Fridays and holidays. It’s quite good for sea-and river-fish and the nearest thing to a tourist eating place in town, 332421.

Khalij Fars Restaurant

, Amanieh Street 330043.

Khayyam Restaurant

, 24-meter Street, at the east-end of the suspension bridge, where delicious fried white fish with boiled rice is served in addition to other dishes 2222453.

Moqaddam Restaurant

, Enghelab Street 73515.

Pol Restaurant

, Naderi Street 226279.

Shamshiri Restaurant

, Amanieh Street 334252.

Taq-e Bostan Restaurant

, Amanieh Street 332928.

Ziba Restaurant

, Naderi Street 214123.

Restaurants at Oxin Hotel and Fajr Grand Hotel

, 442133-4 and 220091-5.
Balut Fruit Ice Cream Hall, though a long trek out of the center (and not marked in English), is very good for fruit ice cream and samosas.
The usual sandwich bars and several good chelo kababis around Shohada Square, the bus terminal area, and the Ahwaz Railway Station.

TAXI:

Like in Tehran, the telephone taxi is the best and the most effective means of going around in the town.

TOURIST MAP:

Available in Persian and English.

TOURIST OFFICE:

Or General Department of Culture and Islamic Guidance, west of the river, on Enghelab Street 333094-5.

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