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Background: Petroleum contaminated soil is an environmental problem that affects human health. Phytoremediation is a cost-effective method for removal of petroleum from soil. This study evaluated the effects of the plant and nutrients on the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) from the soil. Methods: Soils were collected from Ahwaz desalting unit No.2 and then polluted with 2.5% w/w of crude oil. Microbial number and residual TPHs of the studied pot experiments were determined at day 0 and 90. TPHs and heterotrophic bacterial number were measured by gas chromatography (GC) and heterotrophic plate count (HPC) method, respectively. Findings: The average percentage of TPH removal in the rhizosphere soil (≈ 20%) was higher than those in the non-rhizosphere soil (≈ 7%). In addition, the average number of heterotrophic bacteria in the rhizosphere soil (7.14 CFU/g) was higher than in the non-rhizosphere soil (6.16 CFU/g). Moreover, the TPH removal and microbial number in the soil that received nutrient were higher than in the free-nutrient soil. Conclusion: Although high clay and salinity of the soil had an inhibitive effect on phytoremediation efficiency, results showed a native plants performed phytoremediation properly even in improper condition of environment.