Amnesty International: Hundreds Detained in Khuzestan Province in Recent Weeks

On Friday, November 11, Amnesty International announced in a statement that there has been an increase in the "widespread crackdown" on political and ethnic activists in Khuzestan Province in recent weeks, with hundreds detained. According to the human rights organization, the new wave of arrests began following an armed attack during a military parade in Ahvaz and is "deeply concerning." The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the September 22 attack, which left 24 dead and over 60 injured, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that it retaliated by launching several missiles at the group's headquarters in Syria. Amnesty International noted that Iranian activists abroad have reported the number of detainees in recent weeks to be as high as six hundred, and the organization has so far received the names of 178 of them. Philip Luther, the director of the Middle East and North Africa section of Amnesty International, stated that the timing of the arrests indicates that the Islamic Republic has "exploited" the Ahvaz attack to intensify the crackdown on ethnic activists in Khuzestan Province. He emphasized that while the suspects of the horrific Ahvaz attack should be prosecuted and justice served, "arbitrary arrests are not a way to achieve justice." Iranian officials have made contradictory statements, attributing the Ahvaz attack to both the Islamic State and a group known as "Al-Ahvaziah," with Morteza Mirian, a commander of the IRGC, stating that the attack's origin was from abroad. According to Amnesty International, the recent arrests were ordered by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic and took place in various cities and villages of Khuzestan Province, including Ahvaz, Hamidiyeh, Khorramshahr, and Shush. The organization reported that the arrests were made without judicial warrants and that detainees are being held in unknown locations, likely under harsh conditions, without access to lawyers. About two weeks ago, Gholamreza Shariati, the governor of Khuzestan, told the IRNA news agency that there are "no civil activists or children" among the detainees. However, Amnesty International refuted this claim, stating that it has credible information regarding the detention of "students, writers, civil activists, ethnic rights activists, and political activists." Furthermore, while the governor of Khuzestan claimed that there was only one woman among the detainees, Amnesty International mentioned at least three women who have been arrested in recent weeks, naming them as Sahba Hamadi, Zodiyeh Afravi, and Qaysiyeh Afravi. The news of widespread arrests in Khuzestan Province comes as Denmark recently reported the arrest of an Iranian national accused of being a "murder agent" for one of the members of "Al-Ahvaziah" residing in that country. Iran has denied this accusation, attributing it to Israel.