BERLIN (AP) — Three German lawmakers are planning to travel to Iran later this week to discuss with officials the “striking human rights abuses” in the country, one of the parliamentarians said Tuesday. Such a visit by Western officials would be unusual for Iran, where the Islamist government faces increasing isolation over its nuclear program and where authorities have long been sensitive about their treatment of minorities, women and dissidents.

The Germans, who are still waiting for their visas, plan to spend four days in the Islamic Republic, meeting with Iranian lawmakers, academics and representatives of minority religions. But already, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has declined the group’s requests to meet with opposition activists, jailed dissidents or members of the Baha’i faith, a religious group the Iranian government considers heretical.