MESOP REPORT : Iranian intelligence arrests 700 Kurds in Kurdistan’s Mahabad: sources
MAHABAD, Iranian Kurdistan, mojahedin.org – 20 Mai 2015 — From the beginning of the uprisings in the Kurdish city of Mahabad in Iran’s Kurdistan Region (Rojhelat) on Thursday, May 7th, until Friday morning, May 8th, according to reliable sources, 700 Kurds, including many youth have been arrested or summoned for interrogation by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, the opposition Mojahedin Khalgh website reported.
The uprising in Mahabad started after a young Kurdish girl Farinaz Khosrawani, 25, jumped off the fourth storey of the Tara Hotel, where she worked, when Iranian intelligence (Itilaat) officers attempted to rape her on Thursday.
Angry Kurds of Mahabad attacked the hotel and burned it down, in anger on hearing about the incident. The mass protesting outside was brutally attacked by police using real bullets and tear gas. These arrests or detentions have been conducted by the intelligence and Security ministry, but are administered and directed by top ranking Revolutionary Guards officers. Most of the detainees, according to these reports, have been transferred to other cities including Piranshahr and Bokan by the IRGC intelligence department. Many of the detainees were arrested while in hospitals for getting treatment due to the security gunshot wounds. The regime had widely used BB and pellet guns to bring to control the growing uprisings and unrests of Mahabad people.
According to eyewitnesses, security forces and special anti-riot guards have been dispatched to a number of cities in Iran’s Kurdistan Region (western province of Kurdistan and western Azerbaijan, northwestern Iran). These eyewitness reports say that the cellphones and internet have been disabled in most of the cities in western Kurdistan province. These lines were completely cut off on Friday in many of these cities.Amnesty International has issued a statement condemning the excess use of force and repressive measures taken by the Security forces.