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Ebadi Warns against Using Attacks in Tehran as Pretext to Suppress Ethnic Diversity | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Nobel prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. Reuters


London- Iranian Lawyer Shirin Ebadi, who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2003, warned against using the two attacks on Tehran as an “excuse to suppress ethnic diversity and silence civil society activists” in Iran. Meanwhile, Iranian MP Nader Ghazipour announced Tuesday the arrest of 40 suspected ISIS militants in five Kurdish cities northwest Iran.

“The authorities have carried out a large-scale campaign of arrests in the Kurdish areas under the pretext of cooperating with ISIS, and they have arrested in the eastern areas a number of Baloch people and killed others,” Ebadi said in a statement on ISIS attacks.

Ebadi noted that “tensions have aggravated” in the areas of ethnic diversity, and she said: “Developments have worsened the situation in the cities of the majority of ethnic groups,” according to the Center for Defense of Human Rights in Tehran.

“The authorities should not use the painful incidents as a pretext to attack ethnic diversities and cause hatred and discrimination at the national level,” Ebadi said within her condemnation of violence. “The continuation of the situation does not serve the interests of any party.”

Ebadi called on the security and judicial references to “acknowledge the leniency of national security rather than confront civil society activists” and “pay attention to warnings before painful incidents occur.”

In a statement on ISIS attacks, Ebadi said that the response of the authorities came after the killing of five Iranian elements in response to large-scale arrests among the Kurds of Iran.

At the same time, Ebadi noted that the authorities ignored the warnings issued by Kurdish parties, activists and politicians, including warnings published by “Kurd and Kurdistan” website, which speaks for the Kurdistan Democratic Party on the security situation in the Kurdish border areas.

In a common matter, Ghazipour, an Iranian MP who represents Urmia electoral district, announced the arrest of 40 ISIS agents by the West Azerbaijan’s Intelligence Office in the cities of Piranshahr, Sardasht, Mahabad, Bukan and Takab.

He also said that a vast amount of weapons and ammunition were seized from ISIS elements in several operations.

They were plotting to carry out terrorist operations in Ramadan and were timely strangled by the vigilance of West Azerbaijani intelligence services, he added.

Ghazipour noted that the ties of these terrorist elements abroad are being pursued and the Ministry of Intelligence will continue its vigilant activities to arrest their heads as well.