Increased Attacks and Pressure on ‘Popular Relief Workers’ in Khuzestan

The Kayhan newspaper accused relief workers of the “Imam Ali Society” of “promoting superstition and blackening the government” in Khuzestan. According to reports, a number of relief workers from civil society organizations in Khuzestan have been arrested on similar charges.

As discontent among flood victims in Khuzestan has grown over the inadequacy of government and state institutions’ relief efforts, pressure on relief workers from civil society organizations has increased.

In recent days, a number of hardliners and users who identify themselves as Hezbollah supporters have launched an intense propaganda campaign against the “Imam Ali Student-People Relief Society,” one of the non-governmental organizations active in providing aid to flood victims in Khuzestan, leveling various accusations against the organization.

The aforementioned civil society organization responded on Sunday, April 15, in a statement published on the Jamaran website, affiliated with the “Office for the Preservation and Publication of Imam Khomeini’s Works,” to these criticisms and accusations such as “promoting Bahá’í faith, homosexuality, and dependence on foreign currents.”

In this statement, referring to two decades of relief work by members of this society in various parts of Iran, it was written: “A video published on social networks as blackening of flood-affected areas, regardless of judgment about its content, has nothing to do with this society.”

Kayhan’s Insult to Relief Workers

The publication of this statement on the Jamaran website was met with severe criticism from the Kayhan newspaper, whose managing director, Hossein Shariatmadari, is a representative of Ali Khamenei at the Kayhan Institute. Kayhan accused this society of “promoting superstition, blackening the revolution, desecrating the memory of martyrs and the Imam, distorting Islamic history, religious innovation, and spreading eclectic ideas” among flood victims.

Kayhan, by leveling serious accusations against Sharmin Mimandinezh, one of the founding students of the Imam Ali Society, wrote: “Meanwhile, oversight bodies, with eyes closed to all violations and deviations of these organizations, have passively watched as students and youth of the country have fallen into the trap of Sharmin Mimandinezh and become captive to her superstitions and misguided ideas, and in the guise of relief groups like unpaid soldiers, they are engaged in spreading these superstitions among the underprivileged classes and recruiting from among them.”

The society stated in its declaration that all of its activities are “reviewed by official auditors” and the results are submitted to oversight organizations, and the attacks and accusations against this organization are a cost that civil society organizations are forced to pay to maintain their independence.

Arrest of 25 People in Ahvaz

Some news sources close to Arab activists in Ahvaz reported on Sunday, April 15, the arrest of 25 relief workers and members of popular relief committees in the Malashieh area of Ahvaz. While this news has not been officially confirmed so far, the commander of the cyberspace police of Khuzestan Province had previously reported the arrest of 24 people on charges of spreading “deviant news” and rumors about floods in Khuzestan.

According to ILNA news agency, Colonel Shahin Hasanvand said on Saturday, April 14: “Cybercrime police experts, by monitoring and tracking social networks, identified 24 users who spread deviant news and rumors related to the floods and caused public anxiety, and with the coordination of the judicial authority, arrested them.”

In recent days, many reports and videos have been published on social networks depicting protest movements by Khuzestan residents in response to the inadequacy of relief efforts by government and state institutions.

In some of these videos, protesting people strongly criticize the performance of local officials to government authorities and attribute the government’s policies and programs, along with other agencies, as factors exacerbating flood damage and pressure on citizens.

Popular Mobilization and Shrine Defenders in Khuzestan

On Monday, April 15, the Kayhan newspaper reported the entry of “shrine defenders” from Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan into Khuzestan to provide aid to flood victims in the province.

The newspaper writes that alongside Iraqi Shia militias known as the “Popular Mobilization Forces” who have entered Khuzestan, “a group of Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade fighters, Zainabiyoun from Pakistan, and seminary students from these two countries in Iran” have come to assist Iranian relief forces in aid operations to flood-affected areas of Khuzestan.

Apparently, these “fighters” are individuals from the same groups that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps trained and equipped in recent years for deployment to Syria. The presence of these forces in Khuzestan has also been met with protests, and some civil activists believe the purpose of deploying these forces is to counter popular protests that are increasing due to the incompetence and mismanagement of officials.

Source: DW