Iranian security forces arrested more than 65 Arab residents during security sweeps in Iran's Arab-majority Khuzestan province since late 2011 according to local activists, Human Rights Watch said.[9] Reports by local activists indicated security sweeps in the towns of Hamidiyeh, Shush and Ahvaz.[9] At least some of the arrests were carried in response to anti-government slogans and graffiti spray-painted on public property expressing sympathy for the Arab Spring and calling for a boycott of Iran's parliamentary elections of March 2012.[9]