IRAN ARRESTS PROMINENT REFORMIST POLITICIANS FOR ALLEGEDLY WORKING TO ‘BENEFIT ISRAEL AND US’

Mon 09 February 2026:

Iranian authorities have arrested four people on charges of attempting to “disrupt the country’s political and social order” and working “for the benefit” of Israel and the United States during the antigovernment protests last month.

The arrests were made on Sunday and included three prominent reformist politicians, according to Iranian media.

Those arrested were identified as Azar Mansouri, head of Iran’s Reform Front, Mohsen Aminzadeh, a former diplomat, and Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, a former parliamentarian. The fourth remains unnamed.

According to Iran’s judiciary, the group was behind “organising and leading extensive activities aimed at disrupting the political and social situation” at a time when the country faced “military threats” from Israel and the US, according to the official Mizan news agency.

The individuals had done their utmost “to justify the actions of the terrorist foot soldiers on the streets”, it said.

Iran’s Reform Front confirmed the arrests in a statement on X.

It said Mansouri was arrested from the “door of her home under a judicial order” by the intelligence forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It added that the IRGC has also issued summons to other senior members, including its deputy chairman, Mohsen Armin, and its secretary, Badral Sadat Mofidi.

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Deadly crackdown

The arrests come amid anger in Iran over the deaths of thousands of Iranians during the January unrest. The protests began in the capital, Tehran, over a worsening economic crisis, but escalated into a nationwide antigovernment movement.

Iranian authorities labelled the protesters as “terrorists” and blamed the “riots” on foreign interference from Israel and the US.

The government later said 3,117 people were killed during the unrest and rejected claims by the United Nations and international human rights organisations that state forces were behind the killings, most of which occurred on the nights of January 8 and 9.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has verified 6,854 deaths and is investigating 11,280 other cases.

Thousands of others were also arrested during the unrest.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the politicians arrested on Sunday face “serious allegations”.

He said Aminzadeh was a former deputy foreign minister during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, who governed from 1997 to 2005, and that Asgharzadeh is a former lawmaker who was a student leader “involved in the takeover of the US embassy” in 1979.

“These figures have a background of political activism and imprisonment,” Asadi said. “So this is not the first time that they are facing such allegations. And they are going through a trajectory that could pave the way for imprisonment for them,” he said.

Analysts say the crackdown is a sign the Iranian government is trying to send a message to any other dissidents who challenge it.

“These are the people who have been calling for more political liberalisation. Some of them have called for the end of the Islamic Republic,” said Sina Azodi, the director of the Middle East Studies programme at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

“This tells me the Islamic Republic has decided to close any avenues for political dissent and, rather, to rule with an iron fist, through crackdowns and more fear-mongering among any political dissidents.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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