Balochistan: Iranian authorities detain three Baloch youth for wearing Balochi attire

Zahedan: The Iranian intelligence agencies have arrested three Baloch youth in Eastern Azerbaijan’s Ahar city on Sunday, September 2^nd 2018 on suspicion of wearing Baloch attire.

According to the Baloch Activists’ Campaign, three Baloch youth, Saber Rahmani, Milad Shirvani, Mohammad Moeed Shirvani, residents of Iranshahr Balochistan were arrested by the Iranian intelligence agents in the city of Ahar, Eastern Azerbaijan.

Eyewitnesses reported that they were suspected of wearing Balochi apparel and were transferred to the Ahar intelligence office after their arrest.

An Eyewitness said, ‘the agents of the intelligence agency behaved with them in violent and insulting manner, emptied their bag packs and threw all their personal belongings on the street. When nothing prohibited was discovered from their bags and their vehicle then the Iranian intelligence officials arrested them under the pretext of wearing Balochi dresses. The youth were beaten with butts of guns before transferring them to the intelligence office.’ ”

He added that the three Baloch youth tried to reason with the Iranian intelligence agents that they were Baloch and the Balochi attire was their identity but nobody listened to them.

The three Baloch youths were released following protests and insistence of several hours from the people of the region.

Since decades the Iranian print and electronic media have been advertising the Balochi attire as the clothing of ‘smugglers and terrorists’ which has caused a sense of insecurity among Baloch people and increased tension between Iranian security forces and citizens of Balochistan.