At least 20 Arab activists from Khuzestan’s Shooshtar area were arrested last week, sources inside the province reported to Avatoday.
Most of the detainees are reportedly relatives of Habib Chaab, also known as Habib Asyud, the vice-president of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Al Ahwaz.
Chaab was kidnapped in Turkey in late October by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and later smuggled into Iran.
Turkey announced in Mid-December that it had arrested 11 Islamic Republic agents over abducting Iranian dissidents including Chaab and smuggling them into Iran.
According to a Turkish official, Chaab, who was based in Sweden, was persuaded to fly to Turkey to meet a woman who secretly worked for Iranian intelligence.
After arriving in Istanbul, he was drugged and tied down, the official said.
Istanbul police said Chaab was spirited from the city to Turkey’s eastern province of Van, and from there across the border into Iran.
Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk said the operation to detain the 11 suspected of abducting Chaab was also prompted by the seizure of other Iranian opposition figures.
