GENEVA — Iranian authorities have arrested relatives of a young man who was shot dead during demonstrations last month, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an informed source. The Mehr report did not specify which of Pouya Bakhtiari's family members had been arrested but Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of New York-based advocacy group the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said they included his parents, citing information from activists who had visited the family on Monday. The Ministry of Intelligence and judiciary offices in Karaj, a town west of Tehran, had each summoned Bakhtiari's father, Manouchehr, twice for questioning in the past week, a report posted on CHRI's website on Tuesday said. They asked him to call off a commemoration ceremony in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, on Dec. 26 -- the 40th day after his son's death, as often observed by Shi'ite Muslims, Iran's religious majority -- citing concerns it could create unrest.

Source: International New York Times December 24, 2019 16:52 UTC