Zaratosht Ahmadi-Ragheb, one of the authors of the letter to Khamenei, was arrested
Zaratosht Ahmadi-Ragheb, one of the signatories of the letter of resignation of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has been arrested.
According to reports, Iranian Intelligence Ministry agents arrived at Ahmadi-Ragheb's home on Tuesday, September 25, and arrested him.
Security agents also searched his home and confiscated some of his personal belongings. There is still no information about Ahmadi-Ragheb's whereabouts.
Ahmadi-Ragheb was among 14 civil and political activists who, on June 12 of this year, wrote a letter calling for the resignation of the Leader of the Islamic Republic and a change to the Iranian constitution.
The signatories of this letter were Zaratosht Ahmadi-Ragheb, Mohammad Reza Bayat, Kamal Jafari Yazdi, Hashem Khastar, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, Gohar Eshghi (mother of Sattar Beheshti), Hourieh Farajzadeh (sister of Shahram Farajzadeh, one of those killed in the 2009 protests), Mohammad Karimbeigi, Javad Lal-Mohammadi, Mohammad Maleki, Mohammad Mahdavifar, Reza Mehregan, Mohammad Nourizad, and Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi.
Of this group, Huriyeh Farajzadeh, Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, Javad Lal Mohammadi, Hashem Khastar, Mohammad Nourizad, and Zaratasht Ahmadi Ragheb have been arrested so far.
After the publication of this letter, 14 women's activists also published a letter in support of them in August of this year, making demands such as "Khamenei's resignation" and "a complete transition from the Islamic Republic."
Shahla Entesari, Nosrat Beheshti, Fereshteh Rezati, Parva (Sekineh) Pachideh, Giti Pourfazel, Ezzat Javadi-Hesar, Zahra Jamali, Shahla Jahanbin, Fatemeh Sepehri, Maryam Soleimani, Susan Taherkhani, Farangis Mazloum, Narges Mansouri, and Kimia Norouzi-Saber were the signatories of this letter.
Among these individuals, Narges Mansouri, Farangis Mazloum, Fatemeh Sepehri, Shahla Jahanbin, Shahla Entesari, Giti Pourfazel, and Zahra Jamali have been arrested so far.
Earlier, the Islamic Republic's security officials had accused the signatories of these letters of trying to "plan a new sedition." Many of the signatories of these two letters have been arrested in recent days.
International human rights organizations and the United States government have accused the Islamic Republic of violating freedom of expression and suppressing civil activists, and have called for the release of journalists who have been imprisoned simply for carrying out their duties and careers.
The US State Department also says that the Iranian regime has arrested thousands of protesters, civil activists, and representatives of workers and other trade unions in the last two years.
Source: Voice of America
