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Iran Focus
 Tehran, Iran, Aug. 03 – On Tuesday, July 26,
plainclothes agents from the intelligence directorate of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps took 18 detained Kurdish men from the restive towns of Baneh and Marivan to a barren
location and, after a violent rough-up, forced them to strip naked and walk
back to their towns.
The Revolutionary Guards were trying to intimidate young people in this
restive area of western Iran into silence after days of
anti-government protests that have spread to several towns and cities. But
the brutality and humiliation inflicted on the Kurds have only inflamed an
already tense situation.
The day after the 18 men were beaten and stranded, angry Kurds seeking
revenge attacked police patrols in the region killing five agents of Iran’s State Security Forces.
Tensions have increased dramatically in the area since the events of July 26
and there have been several other violent attacks on agents of the SSF in
recent days.
In a bid to contain the situation, the local authorities claimed this week
that the perpetrators of the crime were Kurdish dissidents posing as
Revolutionary Guards, who wanted to “incite people against the Islamic
Republic”. As could be expected, the belated attempt to calm down the anger
of local Kurds has not been successful and anti-government protests are
continuing in different parts of the region
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