KHORRAMSHAHR

formerly Mohammerah, city and port, southwestern Iran. It lies on the right (west) bank of the Karun River where it enters the Al-Arab River (Shatt al-Arab), 45 miles (72 km) from the Persian Gulf. The city occupies the site of the old 'Abbasid port of Mohammerah, but it was already in existence at the time of Alexander the Great. During the Seleucid period, the town was a properous trading centre, and it remained so through the Sasanian and into the Islamic period. As Mohammerah, the town was attacked and demolished by the Turks in 1837. In 1847 it was allocated to Iran, though in practice it was ruled by a local sheikh. In 1924 it came under the central government as Khorramshahr. Khorramshahr had a population of only about 5,000 early in the 20th century, but its port was much improved during World War II, when it was connected with the Trans-Iranian Railway by a branch line to Ahvaz, 76 miles (122 km) north. By the 1960s Khorramshahr had become an important commercial port with a population of almost 90,000 and extensive date palm cultivation in adjacent areas. During the Iran-Iraq War, however, the city and port suffered great damage when captured by Iraqi forces in 1980 and recaptured by Iranian troops in 1982. The port was subsequently partly rebuilt and began accommodating ship traffic again in the early 1990s. Pop. (1976) 140,490.