Bandar-e Mahshahr () is a city in the Central District of Bandar Mahshahr County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.
Demographics
Most of its people speak a dialect that was a mixture of Southern Luri and Bushehri, which is still spoken by most people, taught by the elderly people to the younger generations (the dialect though still thrives in Hendijan and especially Genaaveh). So now Mahshahrians are still mainly Lur-speaking. Local Persians are mostly of Behbahani, Qanavati, and Bandari families. There is also a local Arabic-speaking minority whose roots go back to Qabban in Iraq.
Population
Port and special economic zone
The port of Bandar-e Mahshahr is immediately adjacent to the East of the port of Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni. It is specialized in oil and petrochemical products exports. It includes a special economic zone used by the National Iranian Petrochemical Company and the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), the Special industrial economic zones 'Petzone'.
The port of Bandar-e Mahshahr is mostly used by tanker ships and is accessible through the same channel as the port of Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni, i.e. the 42 miles long, 45 meter deep Khor Musa channel.
Universities
Mahshahr has two universities. Islamic Azad University of Mahshahr and Amirkabir University of Technology, Mahshahr campus. Both universities concentrate on engineering programs, especially petroleum and petrochemical engineering.
2026 conflict
In April 2026, during the US-Israel war on Iran, airstrikes targeted the special petrochemical zones of Mahshahr and Bandar Imam in Iran. Iranian media reports indicate that a minimum of five individuals lost their lives, while approximately 170 others sustained injuries as a result of the assaults on these regions.