At Least 1 Dead as Arab Protesters, Police Clash
At least one person died when protesters from Iran’s Arab minority fought security forces in the country’s oil-rich southwest region, officials said.
Demonstrators rampaged through Ahvaz in Khuzestan province Friday night, smashing police cars, banks and government offices, the official IRNA news agency reported. Authorities said tensions were provoked by a forged letter that talked of relocating Arabs.
Interior Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said one person died. Rasul Mousavi, a former parliamentarian for Ahvaz, said two or three people had been killed.
A spokesman for an Arab-Iranian group campaigning for Khuzestan’s independence said three demonstrators were slain by Iranian forces.
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