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Iranians Arrest Rights Lawyers, Pro-Reform Journalist

Mohammad Ali Dadkhah was reportedly arrested on July 8

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July 09, 2009

TEHRAN -- Iranian authorities arrested prominent human-rights lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and five other people from his office as well as pro-reform journalist Mohamad Reza Yazdan Panah ahead of the 10th anniversary of student riots, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

Dadkhah is a cofounder of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi's group, the Defenders of Human Rights in Iran.

The arrests came as authorities in Iran vowed to crack down hard on anyone who attempted to demonstrate to mark the anniversary of the 1999 student riots in Iran, which sparked a fierce official response that critics say included extrajudicial killings in addition to mass arrests.

Opposition groups were still urging citizens to join in a protest march through Tehran on the afternoon of July 9.

The situation in Iran remains tense nearly one month after Mahmud Ahmadinejad's reelection as president sparked public protests around Iran.

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