Arabs Massacred In Iran.

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Monday April 18, 2011 14:13 by John Cornford - Hands Off the People of Iran

Fifteen dead in Ahwaz, Iran

Fifteen people have been killed in Ahwaz, a city in Iran's Khuzestan province, according to Al Arabiya News Channel. Iranian security forces backed by militias dressed in civilian clothes broke up demonstrations by force.

The group “Youth of April 15” said in its pages on Facebook and Twitter that 15 people from Ahwaz have been killed and dozens have been wounded since demonstrations began last Friday. Friday had been declared as a “Day of Rage” to demand rights for the ethnic Arab majority in Iran’s Khuzestan province. “The humanitarian situation is very bad,” and there were reports of a lack of the food and water, the group said.

Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organization (IMHRO) had said in a statement on Saturday that the government deployed agents in public squares and in the streets. Basij militia forces and revolutionary guards were positioned in various parts of Ahwaz city, IMHRO added.

The demonstrations, which were organized via Facebook and Twitter spread to the cities of Hamidieh, Mahshahr, Shdegan, Abadan, and Khoramshahr, according to IMHRO.

Ahwazi Center for Human Rights Defense has called on the international community to intervene and put an end to what it termed “massacres in Ahwaz.” The group demanded in a statement that the Iranian government ensures the “safe” treatment in hospitals of the wounded protesters.

According to The Democratic Solidarity Party of Al Ahwaz the authorities have intermittently cut off electricity and water from residents of Ahwaz city.

Jamal Ahmad, a protester said: “We came out peacefully and they soon started to shoot at us. I saw people falling down next to me."

The “Day of Rage” was called by opposition movements to mark the anniversary of what was termed the “April 15 Apprising” of 2005.

The uprising was prompted by a leaked secret government strategy to try to change the demographic chart of Ahwaz and make ethnic Arab residents a minority. This is similar to the Zionists moving colonists into Occupied Palestine.

Ahwaz holds 15 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves and has the second gas reserve in the world. Ahwazi Arabs are banned from using media, any political and cultural activities heavily suppressed by Iranian government.

Iranian security services, the Vezarat Atelat, secretly killed many Ahwazi activist and intimidated families of activist who live in exile.