The United States is "very concerned" by reports in Khuzestan, Iran, of unrest in which several people have been killed and many more, perhaps hundreds, have been arrested, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said on Tuesday.
"In our view, this unrest and these arrests involve the denial of rights of minority groups in Iran -- the group is an Arab group, to my understanding -- and ... suppression of minority rights is obviously to be denounced," Ereli said during a department briefing.
It is not the first time Iran has practiced this type of human rights violation, Ereli said.
"The United States calls upon the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with this minority in Khuzestan and to expect the peaceful exercise by the Iranian people of their democratic rights," Ereli said.
Asked to specify which rights he was referring to, Ereli said, "I think at a minimum the right to freely assemble and peacefully demonstrate."