Young people in Shelang-abad and Kian-pars regions of Ahwaz, capital of the southwestern province of Khuzistan, staged protests and clashed with the State Security Forces (SSF) for the fifth day running Thursday.
Chanting antigovernment slogans, the protesters resisted the SSF’s brutal onslaught. Several people were injured and a large number of others arrested.
To prevent residents in other cities from joining the protest in Ahwaz, the clerical regime blocked entrances to the city from Abadan, Masjid Soleiman and Shush. It also set up checkpoints in the city’s main thoroughfares.
So extensive are the dimensions of popular uprisings in Ahwaz and other cities in the province that Majlis deputy Hamid Zanganah warned about the state of the province’s explosive state. He said that in the past year, there had been a clash or a demonstration in the province every 45 days.
In April, Ahwaz and other cities were the scenes of demonstrations and widespread clashes between the people and the suppressive forces. At least 62 were shot and killed by the SSF and more than 1,000 arrested.
The regime murdered a number of the detainees after brutal tortures. The bodies of some of the victims were found by fishermen in Karoun River.
The Iranian Resistance condemns the violent crackdown on the people of Khuzistan and again calls on the international community to take urgent action to stop the severe and persistent violations of human rights in Iran.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 30, 2005
