Arbitrary Arrests Continue against Minorities in the Marginalized Regions of Iran.

Arash Mokri, a student at Tabriz University, was arrested by security officials in a raid on his house on February 26, 2016. Officials seized his personal belongings such as cell phone, books in Kurdish language and laptop without a court warrant and had taken him to an unknown location. He was previously arrested on alleged charges of relationship with one of the Kurdish opposition parties in recent months, his relatives said.

Reports indicate that a manager of famous women's clothing store was detained by IRGC officials of Fajr base on the vague charges of corruption and defrauding young women through selling alleged vulgar (incompatible with Islamic dress "Hijab") clothes.

According to reports, a group of prisoners rioted in Rajai Shahr prison, which holds many civil-political prisoners. At least three inmates were stabbed, and one inmate died of severe injuries about ten days ago.

Ms. Nazak Afshar, an Iranian-born former employee of the French embassy in Tehran, was arrested upon entering Iran at the airport and taken to Evin prison. She was formerly detained for working in the cultural section of the French Embassy in the summer of 2009, she was released after a while and left Iran for France.

Officials arrested two Gonabadi dervishes Ebrahim Fazli and Mohammad-Ali Sa'adi, who were arrested at the Court of Sarvestan County when they were summoned to the court without any prior order. Another Dervish, Asghar Karimi is also detained in the court. They have been allegedly transferred to Adel Abad prison. The imprisoned Dervishes were previously shot at in a raid by security forces in Kavar County in Fars Province in 2011.

Three Kurdish civil rights activists, Pooya Hussein Panahi, Pooya Moghadam and Arman Hussein Panahi, were detained by Intelligence Service officials on Thursday, March 10, 2016.

Officials detained Pooya Moghadam and Arman Hussein Panahi in Gharechay rural District of Dehgolan County, Kurdistan, Human Rights Defenders said. Pooya Hussein Panahi was arrested at his workplace on Saadat Abad Avenue, BCR Group has learned.

Previously, Salman Hussein Panahi was reportedly arrested by officials in Sanandaj city on Thursday, February 11, 2016. There is no information about his situation since the arrest.

In this regard, Intelligence Service agents of Ahwaz city arrested several Arab rights activists in the past days. According to human rights activists from Ahwaz, officials detained two residents of Akhar-E-Asfalt (Abareh) District on March 7, 2016. Reza Halafi, 29, married and has two kids, was arrested along with Seyed Vassam Mousavi, 27, at night due to their peaceful religious activities, their relatives declared.

In addition, a Sunni convert, Jasem Ka'ab, was arrested in a raid at his house on March 8, 2016. Officials allegedly transferred him to an unknown location in the dark, eyewitnesses said. Another religious activist, Bagher Gholami (Na'ami), was detained by officials at 1:00 AM on March 6, 2016.

In the past weeks, several Arab young citizens included Sami Hamidavi and Sabzi (Neysi), were arrested during a meeting, human rights activists reported.

Iranian Sunnis suffer serious discrimination and human rights activists are concerned that the Sunni Muslims in Iran live in fear as state-sponsored persecution ramps up.

Today in Iran, many citizens especially ones of ethnic minorities (Arabs, Baluch, Kurds) face horrible risk in their lives such as poverty, unemployment or inaccessibility of health services and medicines, educational facilities and arbitrary arrest.

Many Baluchs and Arabs haven't even a shelter for their children; we see thousands of Tents and Ruined Houses in Iran's border regions.

According to the news, Jalil Mohammadi, a labor activist, was detained in a raid by Iran's security forces in an attack on March 7, 2016. Officials detained him in an attack at his house in Sanandaj city and transferred him to an unknown location.

Furthermore, officials seized his personal belongings such as a computer, cell phone, books, CDs and memory card, rights groups said. The arrest happened on the eve of International Women's Day; he is frequently detained on the vague charges, BCR Group has learned. There is no information about his situation since the arrest.

A Baluch citizen Ayoub Sabouri was detained by security officials in Chabahar County in March of 2016. There is no information about his situation and accusation.

Four Baha'I citizens, Tara Hooshmand, Roohiyeh Safajoo, Behzad Zabihi and Sarmad Shadabi were arrested by security officials in the cities of Tehran, Karaj and Sari on March 8, 2016. The Baha'I citizens, who were deprived of education for their beliefs in Baha'I faith, were later released on bail; officials imposed Samad Shadabi with a bail of $66,000 (200 million Tomans) and $16,500,000 (50 million Tomans) for the other two. According to Baha'I News Agency, the officials seized their personal belongings such as books, cell phone, and computer during an attack at their house.

At least 275 individuals were reportedly arrested on alleged charges of anti-regime activities in 2015-2016, the spokesman of Law Enforcement Force of Islamic Republic of Iran (NAJA) stated.

Iran's Appeal Court affirmed three years of prison sentence against Rasoul Bodaghi, the imprisoned educator, in Tehran. He had faced a new verdict for alleged charges of "acting against national security" in his final days of a previous prison sentence, on September 16, 2015. Mr. Bodaghi was arrested in August 2009 and sentenced to six years in prison. He is kept at Ward 7 in Evin prison.

Ms. Shokoufeh Azar Masouleh was sentenced to a year in jail and five years of probation on the charges of "propaganda against the regime of Iran" and "assembly and collusion against national security" by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran chaired by Judge Ahmadzadeh on March 12, 2016. She was arrested in June 2015 and transferred to Evin prison. Officials allowed her a temporary release on bail on March 12, 2016.

Iran's Supreme Court has confirmed a harsh sentence "eye for an eye, blind retribution" against a young man in a crime case. Saman was forcibly sentenced to blinding for a street conflic in which the victim Jalal accidentally was blinded in his left eye in 2011. The trial case was referred to forensics office for possible blinding in a well-equipped eye clinic. In this regard, "punishing someone by deliberately blinding them is an unspeakably cruel and shocking act", Raha Bahreini, Amnesty International's Iran Researcher, stated on March 5, 2015.

By: Kaveh Taheri