Arrest of 182 Citizens on the Centennial of Al-Ahwaz Occupation

On the centennial of Al-Ahwaz’s occupation, Iranian occupation forces continued their mass arrests targeting the Arab people of Al-Ahwaz. Amir Khalafian, the Iranian occupation prosecutor and revolutionary authority in Al-Ahwaz, admitted to the arrest of 182 citizens.

According to human rights sources, since December, Iranian occupation security forces have detained dozens of Ahwazi citizens and summoned hundreds of others to the intelligence headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard Militia (Informant Center 114) and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (Informant Center 113) for questioning.

The majority of those arrested are cultural, civil, and media activists, as well as poets. Among them are environmental activists like Milad Bahri, a photographer and social activist; Mustafa Jamal, an Arabic-language poet; and Ahlem Obayat Bandar, a cultural activist. Additionally, Saeed Ismail, a well-known Ahwazi Arab writer, was detained.

Most of the individuals summoned are residents of Ahwaz City, Ma’shour, Mohammareh, Fallahiyeh, Susa, Khor Musa, Hormoz, Abushahr, Jambaron Port City, Izeh, Testern, and Karoun.

Earlier, Iranian occupation authorities announced the arrest of Ahwazi citizens on charges of espionage for a Gulf state, highlighting the fear and paranoia among the occupying forces in Al-Ahwaz.

The Iranian occupation police in Al-Ahwaz also claimed to have confiscated several combat and hunting weapons during raids on Ahwazi citizens’ homes.

Additionally, dozens of Ahwazi citizens were detained this month on ideological grounds in regions such as Al-Ahwaz, Al-Khafajiya, and Al-Fallahiya.

The youth of Al-Ahwaz suffer from systematic oppression and marginalization by Iranian occupation authorities. This includes being excluded from employment in institutions located in occupied Al-Ahwaz as part of a larger project of “Persianization.”

Human rights organizations have condemned the Iranian occupation’s mass arrests of the Ahwazi people, calling for the immediate release of detainees, the protection of their rights, and the granting of employment opportunities for Ahwazi citizens in institutions under occupation control.

These organizations emphasized the need to ensure the rights of the Ahwazi people in their homeland, urging the occupation authorities to halt the arbitrary arrests and release all individuals detained in the occupation’s prisons.