On the eve of the eight Majlis parliamentary elections, a new wave of political arrests have ‎begun in Iran. Unlike its predecessors, this one is carried out discreetly and has been kept away ‎from the media. ‎

One Azari activist told Rooz, "Nearly a month has passed since the mass arrest of a number of ‎ethnic Azari activists, but till today no news has been published about them." ‎

According to him, in telephone conversations to their families, the arrested individuals insisted ‎that they families do not give any information to the press, as that could endanger their life or ‎well being.‎

This political activist continued, "Since about a month ago, a large group of Azari political ‎activists, who have been accused by the ministry of intelligence of engaging in separatist ‎activists, have been arrested and are kept at the ministry's detention centers. ‎

He added, "Since these were mass arrests, we still do not have accurate information about the ‎number of those arrested, but based on circumstantial evidence we estimate them to be around ‎‎20." ‎

This ethnic activist also said that a number of the arrestees were charged for political activities ‎they carried out as students, even though seven or eight years had passed since they were ‎enrolled in any academic institution. As of writing, the detainees had been kept in detention for ‎about a month in complete violation of their rights and with no access to attorneys. ‎

He continued, "Unfortunately, because of their abrupt arrests, their families are totally confused ‎about what to do or where to go. They have been warned by intelligence agencies and threatened ‎that their loved ones would be subjected to great pressure if they provided any information about ‎them to the press, and may even face arrest themselves.” “In order to keep the buzz down, they ‎have tried to arrest individuals who are not very well known, and whose arrests are less costly I ‎political terms." ‎

Reports indicate that, despite express provisions in the Iranian Constitution, these detainees have ‎not been formally charged yet, even though they are intensely interrogated on a regular basis. ‎