Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has arrested several senior figures from the Reformists Front, the political coalition that helped secure President Masoud Pezeshkian’s election. The detentions come amid a broader crackdown on dissent following recent street protests that have left thousands dead.
Among those arrested is Azar Mansouri, secretary general of the Islamic Iran People party and a key reformist leader. She had expressed deep sorrow over protesters’ deaths, stating that nothing could justify such a catastrophe. Also detained were Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, head of the front’s political committee, and Mohsen Aminzadeh, a former deputy foreign minister. Hossein Karroubi, son of former reformist presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, was arrested on Monday; the IRGC accused him of inciting and publishing a statement blaming Iran’s plight on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The crackdown appears designed to stifle criticism of the security forces’ handling of the protests, which the government says killed 3,000 people, though other estimates are higher. The Tehran prosecutor’s office claimed those arrested sought to “justify the actions of the terrorists’ infantry” and were acting in league with the US and Israel. Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei warned that those issuing statements against the Islamic Republic would “suffer losses”.
In a statement before her arrest, Mansouri declared: “We will not allow the blood of these dear ones to be consigned to oblivion… No power, no justification and no time can sanitise this great catastrophe.” Her arrest follows that of four other human-rights defenders who signed a statement demanding a democratic referendum. Separately, Nobel peace prize winner Narges Mohammadi, already detained, received a new seven-year jail sentence.
