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AzerNEWS Staff

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Iranian security forces have reportedly arrested at least 21 Arabs, including two minors aged 13 and 17, in a series of raids in the cities of Shush and Ahvaz, according to the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights.

Hengaw said Mohammad Kaabi, an Arab poet and cultural activist from Shush, was arrested by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence forces on Saturday, September 12, and transferred to an undisclosed location.

In a separate incident, IRGC Intelligence forces reportedly arrested 12 people during a raid on a home in the village of Abudeh in Ahvaz on Thursday, September 10.

According to Hengaw, those detained were Reza Savari, Khaled Gharbavi, Jafar Cheldavi, Loghman Batrani, Kamal Batrani, Mostafa Cheldavi and his 13-year-old son Ali Cheldavi, another person also named Ali Cheldavi, Ebrahim Hamdani, Abbas Heydari, Amir Jaderi and Hadi Beit Sheikh Ahmad, also known as Abu Kamal, 55.

The rights group said all 12 were guests at Mostafa Cheldavi's home when security forces detained them. Several of those arrested were later transferred to Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz.

Hengaw described the arrests as religiously motivated but did not provide further details about the specific allegations against those detained.

In another incident, eight people were reportedly arrested in Ahvaz's Kuy-e Mashali neighbourhood on Friday, September 4.

The eight were identified as Razi Heydari, 50, Hossein Heydari, 29, Abdolali Asakereh, 30, Majid Sharifi, also known as Savari, 44, Arkan Sharifi, 17, Lafteh Heydari, 36, Hamzeh Sayahi, 34, and Mohammad Savari.

According to Hengaw, the group had gathered at Sharifi's home when Intelligence Department forces surrounded and entered the property.

The organisation alleged that security forces beat the detainees before arresting them without warrants and transferring them blindfolded to an undisclosed location.

Hengaw also said the forces searched Sharifi's home, confiscated the mobile phones of those present and seized his vehicle.

Several of those arrested were reportedly transferred to the quarantine section of Sheiban Prison on Wednesday, September 9, while Sharifi remained in custody at an Intelligence Department detention facility.

According to the rights organisation, Sharifi had previously been summoned and arrested and had served a prison sentence.

The reported arrests come amid continued scrutiny of Iran's treatment of Arab communities in Khuzestan province, where rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns over arrests and restrictions affecting cultural, religious and political activities.

The allegations have not been independently verified, and Iranian authorities have not been quoted as commenting on the reported arrests.