Police attack protest in southwest Iran city

Iran Focus:

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 05 – Dozens of people from the Arab-dominated city of Ahwaz, south-western Iran, gathered in the city centre on Saturday in protest against the arrest of their relatives during anti-government protests on Friday, one of the demonstrators told Iran Focus.

About 70 angry and distraught relatives of those who had been arrested called for the release of their family members during the day’s protest, but were violently dispersed by the police.Many were beaten and several were arrested by agents of Iran’s State Security Forces. Their whereabouts are unknown, the source said.

On Friday, clashes between people and agents of the SSF erupted in the oil-rich city as police launched a crackdown on a peaceful demonstration by close to 1,000 ethnic Arabs.

Ahwaz, the capital of the Arab-dominated province of Khuzestan, has been the scene of unremitting anti-government protests since the start of the year.