Iran Human Rights, June 18: According to reliable sources in Iran, three out of the five Ahwazi Arab political prisoners were executed: Abdolrahman Heidarian (23 years old), Taha (a.k.a. Jamshid) Heidarian (28 years old), and Abbas Heidarian (26 years old).

According to these sources, the families were informed of the executions on the morning of June 18. The three men were transferred out of the prison wards on June 9. The exact date of the executions is unknown.

There is no further information about the whereabouts of the other two prisoners.

In March this yearIHR and other human rights organizations had warned against execution of five Ahwazi Arab prisoners. Iranian authorities informed the families of five prisoners from the Arab-dominated Ahwaz province that their sons will be hanged in public “within days” for allegedly killing a security member and wounding another in 2011. The detainees included three brothers – Abdolrahman, Taha, and Abbas Heidarian – and their cousin Mansour Heidari and Amir Maawi. They were arrested under anti-regime protests in Ahwaz in 2011 and were charged with the murder of a security member. Their families say the prisoners confessed to the murder under torture. International attention was probably the reason why they were not executed in March.

On June 10. this year IHR warned once again about the imminent danger of execution of these prisoners and urged the international community to react.