A wave of arrests is in full force in Iran, with the Islamic Republic arresting hundreds of people suspected of spying for Israel.
On Saturday, the sister of a prominent protester who died in an Iranian prison was arrested in the southeastern province of Kerman. According to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a nonprofit promoting the rights of Iran’s Kurdish community, plainclothes agents detained Behnaz Mahjoubi at her workplace in Kerman without presenting her an arrest warrant.
Behnaz Mahjoubi’s brother, Behnam Mahjoubi, was arrested in 2018 and died in prison in 2021. His arrest followed a government crackdown that year on protesters from the Gonabadi Dervishes, a Sufi minority. Five protesters were reportedly killed during the demonstrations, scores were injured, and hundreds were arrested.
Iranian sources told The Media Line that Behnaz spoke publicly about her brother’s plight following his death, although she hasn’t spoken out recently.
According to Iman Forouton, chair of the anti-regime New Iran organization and the SOS Iran activist network, the Islamic Republic has become paranoid in the wake of the war and is rounding up anyone related to those who protested in the past, particularly those whose family members were killed by the state.
Former Iranian political prisoner Shabnam Madadzadeh shared a video on social media of Behnaz’s mother, Batoul Hosseini, speaking out about her daughter’s abduction.
“Behnaz suffers from a heart condition. The Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC will be held fully responsible for anything that happens to her,” Hosseini said.
Forouton told The Media Line that members of the Baháʼí faith, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, are also being arrested.
The Islamic Republic judiciary signed off on the execution of three Iranian men this week, convicting them of espionage on behalf of Mossad’s intelligence agency. According to the Iranian Students’ New Agency (ISNA), which is affiliated with the Islamic Republic, the men were convicted of espionage on behalf of Israel.
ABC News reported that ISNA described the executions as part of a “season of traitor-killing”
Hundreds of others were arrested during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Dissidents, opposition leaders, journalists, writers are all being detained, as the country is grappling with an unprecedented threat to the regime’s grip on power.
According to Iran International, a Washington-based news network critical of the regime, a journalist was arrested last week over his war coverage.
In the days since Israeli bombs stopped falling on Iran, state security guards have emerged from hiding. A massive crackdown is in force, with checkpoints popping up throughout the country.
One of the activists involved in Forouton’s SOS Iran resistance network told The Media Line that guards in Iran have set up checkpoints every kilometer or two to check cars and buses.
Citing leaked intelligence documents, The Times reported last week that the Mossad had been present in Iran since 2010, familiarizing themselves with the nuclear program and infiltrating sites including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters and the Sanjarian nuclear site. The accomplishments achieved by Israel earlier this week—taking out key regime officials and nuclear scientists and severely damaging nuclear program infrastructure—may have taken place over 12 days, but they resulted from a decade and a half of boots on the ground.
The chief of the Mossad said last week that the intelligence service will continue to operate in Iran. “We will be there, just as we have been there until now,” Mossad chief David Barnea said.
On Thursday, the Mossad’s Farsi-language social media posted a message to the Iranian people: “A ceasefire has been implemented. Now, the extent of the damage is becoming clear.”
The post noted that the Mossad had established a team of Farsi-speaking doctors who were available to support civilians.
The next day, the page added another post: “Dear Iranian citizens, you know that we will do our utmost to ensure no harm comes to you. Our fight is with the oppressive Islamic Republic regime.” It warned civilians to stay away from the members of the Revolutionary Guards, security personnel, bases, and regime vehicles and to avoid answering unknown calls or texts.
Internet access in Iran has been reinstated after being cut off during the war. The SOS Iran activist who spoke to The Media Line said that the Islamic Regime has been indiscriminately sending texts to everyone with warnings to the public and threats that they are being watched.
On June 25, Iran’s judiciary together with the Intelligence Ministry announced changes to its espionage law, as was previously reported by The Media Line. A new committee was formed to monitor civilians’ online activity.
He said that the Morality Police have resumed stopping the public and checking civilians’ phones. One acquaintance in Iran told the activist to stop texting him and that he was going to change his SIM card.
Directives have also reportedly been given to the public to weed out the Mossad agents or accomplices. Iranians have been told to report on neighbors whose houses are regularly visited by strange men, who have large piles of garbage outside their homes, who mostly keep their curtains closed.