Seven Arab Sunni religious activists arrested in Khuzestan

Hengaw – Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Iranian intelligence forces have arrested seven Arab Sunni religious activists in the cities of Abadan and Mahshahr, Khuzestan Province, as authorities continue their crackdown on religious activists in the region.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, intelligence forces carried out coordinated arrests in Abadan on Friday, July 24, 2026, detaining five Arab Sunni activists: Mehdi Batrani, 41; Hossein Khanfari, 33; Amin Khanfari, 22; Mehdi Asakereh, 20; and Hassan Batrani, 32.

Meanwhile, intelligence forces arrested two other Arab religious activists in Mahshahr: Abdolhamid Simari, 50, also known as Abu Abdulsalam, and Hatem Mansouri, 46.

The authorities have not disclosed the charges against the seven detainees, the reasons for their arrests, or their place of detention. Their families' efforts to obtain information about their whereabouts have so far been unsuccessful.