Iran said today that about 200 people were arrested during ethnic disturbances in the southwest of the country in recent days, and it blamed foreign television stations for stirring up the trouble. Iranian authorities have said at least one person died after Arab-Iranians went on the rampage in Khuzestan province, bordering Iraq, on Friday and Saturday. They set fire to police cars, and damaged banks and government buildings and clashed with police.
IRNA news agency quotes Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi as saying many of those arrested are young, innocent people. He said the real culprits were those who provoked them. He accused "anti-government television channels" of fomenting unrest.
It was not clear which television channels Yunesi was referring to. Many Iranians tune in to foreign channels via illegal satellite dishes.
