Abstract. – Zār is a well-known possession cult in northeastern Africa; however, its existence in South Arabia and in the Gulf Region is relatively fameless. This article addresses the performance of zār rituals in Khuzestan (southwestern Iran), which is mainly practiced by the minority of “Black Arabs”. Based on an ethnological pilot study it is argued that the (so called) zār cult plays a highly significant role for the construction of individual and collective identities. Moreover, in the region of investigation it has a strong ethnic dimension. It provides a socioreligious network which ranges over all the different – often isolated and marginalized – Black communities along the Arabian-Persian Gulf. [Arabistan, Khuzestan, Black Arabs, zār, spirit possession, ethnicity]