Human rights activists are reporting the regime has executed an unknown number of inmates Ahwaz, southern Iran.
The Intelligence Department officials contacted the families of some of these executed individuals informing them of their executions and having them pledge to not hold any gatherings or ceremonies.
The executions were reportedly carried out on Thursday November 8.
Unofficial sources have identified two of those who were executed as Ahmad Heydari, 30, and Hatam Sawari, 24.
On September 24, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence issued a statement stating that 22 people were arrested in connection to a military parade attack. The names of the four executed men were among the 22 detained suspects.
Sources say authorities have refused to hand over the bodies to their families for proper burials.
The executions have been confirmed by officials at Ahwaz Central Prison and the city court, when asked by the grieving families, yet news agencies have not issued any reports.
Human rights activists in Ahwaz said that the office of the regime’s intelligence ministry contacted the families of the executed detainees on Saturday, November 10, to summon them to appear at its headquarters. On their arrival, they were given their loved ones’ death certificates and ordered not to hold any funeral ceremonies or mourning rituals or to receive anyone at their homes offering condolences, with the regime threatening to arrest anyone breaching these conditions.
The Iranian authorities have waged a sweeping crackdown against the Ahwazi Arab ethnic minority, arresting hundreds of people in Khuzestan province, following the September 22 military parade attack.
Civil and cultural activists who had served time as political prisoners are amongst those arrested.
The arrests have taken place in towns, cities and villages across Khuzestan province including Ahvaz, Hamidiyeh, Khorramshahr (known to Ahwazi Arabs as Mohammareh), and Shush.
Activists have confirmed the identities of 500 Ahwazis taken into custody so far, who include women and children. Some human rights activists however, put the number of those arrested at 800.
In a November 2 statement, Amnesty International condemned the arbitrary arrests of Ahwazi Arabs, saying, “The timing suggests that the Iranian authorities are using the attack in Ahwaz as an excuse to lash out against members of the Ahwazi Arab ethnic minority, including civil society and political activists, in order to crush dissent in Khuzestan province.”
