Identity of Four Executed Ahvaz Detainees Announced Despite Official Denials

Official authorities in Khuzestan are calling reports of the execution of 22 detainees from the armed attack in Ahvaz “absolute lies,” but local activists in Ahvaz say the identities of at least four of the executed have been confirmed so far.

Gholamreza Shariati, governor of Khuzestan, said on Monday, November 12, in an interview with Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that reports of “mass execution of 22 people arrested in connection with the terrorist attack in Ahvaz” were “absolute lies.” The Khuzestan governor only stated regarding the proceedings of the detainees’ cases that the charges against them have been explained to them.

Jamal Aalami-Neyssi, mayor of Ahvaz, also rejected the validity of execution reports in an interview with IRNA Plus, and Mohammad Javad Jamali Nobandegani, representative of Fas and member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, described the report as “more of a media narrative” while claiming to be unaware of “the execution of detainees.”

The Ahvaz Human Rights Organization released a statement on Sunday, November 11, announcing that “22 Arab Ahvaz citizens who, according to a notice issued by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence on September 23, 2018, were arrested on charges of involvement in an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, were mass executed on Thursday, November 8, 2018, at Ahvaz Central Prison without prior notification to their families.”

According to the organization’s announcement, the identities of four of the executed have been confirmed so far: Mohammad Momeni Timas (known as Abu Nasr), 58 years old from the Shikare neighborhood of Ahvaz and director of the cultural institution “Shams Al-Janub,” Nassar Momeni Timas, the eldest son of Mohammad Momeni Timas, Ahmad Heidari, 30 years old, son of Abboud from Kamploo Street in Ahvaz, and Hatem Savari, 24 years old from Aloui Street in Ahvaz.

The news of the execution of Mohammad Momeni Timas and his son Nassar was circulated by activists and media related to Ahvaz Arabs at a time when a source close to the Momeni family told Deutsche Welle Farsi that the accuracy of execution reports still cannot be confirmed, and all that the Momeni family currently knows is limited to news published on social media and various outlets. The source emphasized that intelligence agencies have prevented the Momeni family from speaking to the media.

Ali Sari, representative of Ahvaz, Bavi, Hamidieh, and Karun in the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly, refused to answer questions from Deutsche Welle about execution reports and postponed the matter to another time.

The Ahvaz Human Rights Organization’s statement said: “The Ministry of Intelligence previously released a video of the arrest of these 22 people and claimed that these individuals, who were ‘supporting or involved in’ the attack on the military parade, were arrested in a safe house where ‘explosives, military equipment, and communication facilities’ were discovered and confiscated.”

On Saturday, September 22, coinciding with a military parade in Ahvaz, a group of four people opened fire on the attendees. In this armed attack, 24 people were killed, including several civilians, and about 60 others were wounded.

After this attack, for which ISIS claimed responsibility by releasing a video of the attackers, a wave of arrests swept through Ahvaz, and according to Ahvaz activists, approximately 800 men and women were arrested in Ahvaz, including political activists, cultural figures, and ordinary citizens. These arrests prompted a reaction from Amnesty International.

Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa Research Division at Amnesty International, said in this regard: “The scale of arrests in recent weeks is a cause of serious concern, and its timing suggests that Iranian authorities have used the Ahvaz attacks as a pretext to crack down on members of Ahvaz’s ethnic minority, including civil society members and political activists, to suppress dissent in the region.”

Source: DW