Young Ahwazi activist shot by Iranian forces dies of injuries

Ahwazna

An Ahwazi freedom activist, 23-year-old Hussam Al Dabat, died of his injuries in a hospital in Ahwaz last Friday (July 15) days after being shot by Iranian security forces.

Confirming his death, the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz’ (ASMLA) information office reported that he was shot during clashes in the village of Beit Hannoush in the western Al Sous  city of northern Ahwaz province on June 23 after intelligence forces assisted by their security service counterparts, attempted to arrest him.

The young activist had been accused by regime authorities of participating in an attack on a gathering of Shiite clerics in the area of Ghabet al Karkheh (a.k.a. Zourat Hatta) on April 18 by unknown assailants.

Hussam’s funeral took place on Tuesday July 12, with large numbers of mourners attending the burial in Al Khoudra Cemetery in the city of Al Sous (Shush). Local sources told the ASMLA’s information office that his grief-stricken father initially refused to bury his son’s body until his killers were punished, but had relented under pressure from his family and tribe members, who insisted that the martyred man be laid to rest.

The mourners chanted slogans against the crimes of the Iranian occupation of Ahwaz, now in its 91st year, vowing revenge against Hussam’s killers and expressing their anger by firing shots into the air, despite warnings from regime authorities to the martyr’s family before the funeral.

Iranian regime authorities have recently stepped up their already excessive use of violence against Ahwazi peoples, indiscriminately using live bullets against citizens, which threatens a new wave of regime terror that could affect many Ahwazi freedom activists.