Iranian security forces have detained five Azeri activists in separate raids across the country, amid a growing crackdown on ethnic minority rights.
The activists – identified as Vadod Asadi, Saeed Minaie, Ayaz Seyfkhah, Bagher Hajizadeh and Kamal Nouri – were violently apprehended in the cities of Rasht, Tabriz and Eslamshahr, the HRANA human rights activists news agency reported on February 7.
The authorities have yet to disclose the reasons behind the arrests, the detainees' whereabouts, and the potential charges they face.
Two of those detained, Asadi and Minaie, had been arrested in the past.
According to the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), security forces arrested 324 ethnic rights advocates last year.
Ethnic minorities in Iran face discrimination which curtails their access to education, employment and political office, and are also subjected to arbitrary detention, unjust prosecutions, torture and other ill-treatment.
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