HUMAN rights activists say reports have reached them of a mass execution in the south-western city of Ahvaz earlier this month.

Campaign group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said that as many as 22 prisoners may have been put to death on Thursday November 8, citing sources who quoted the victims’ families.

Those reportedly executed were Ahwazi Arab activists. Ahvaz is the capital of Iran’s Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq and has a large Arab population. The province has been the site of an Arab separatist movement for decades.

A military parade through Ahvaz on September 22 was attacked by gunmen. One source told IHR: “In the aftermath of the attack to a military parade the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced that 22 people were arrested for alleged connection to the incident. It seems that authorities executed all of them on Thursday.

“[On Sunday] they told the prisoners’ families that the executions were carried out. They warned the families against public mourning.”