Zarathusht Ahmadi-Rageb, Author of Letter to Khamenei, Arrested

Zarathusht Ahmadi-Rageb, one of the signatories of a letter calling for the resignation of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has been arrested.

According to reports, agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence arrested Ahmadi-Rageb on Tuesday, the fifth of Shahrivar, by arriving at his residence.

Security forces also searched his home and seized some of his personal belongings. There is still no information about where Ahmadi-Rageb is being held.

Ahmadi-Rageb was among 14 civil and political activists who, on the 22nd of Khordad of the current year, signed a letter calling for the resignation of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader and amendments to Iran’s constitution.

Zarathusht Ahmadi-Rageb, Mohammad Reza Beyat, Kamal Jaafari Yazdi, Hashem Khorasteh, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, Gohar Eshghi (mother of Sattar Beheshti), Huria Ferajzadeh (sister of Shahram Ferajzadeh, who was killed during the 2009 protests), Mohammad Karim Beigi, Javad Lalejoon, Mohammad Maleki, Mohammad Mahdavifar, Reza Mehregan, Mohammad Norizad, and Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi were the signatories of this letter.

So far, Huria Ferajzadeh, Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, Javad Lalejoon, Hashem Khorasteh, Mohammad Norizad, and Zarathusht Ahmadi-Rageb have been arrested.

Following the publication of this letter, 14 women’s rights activists published a supporting letter in Mordad of the current year, raising demands such as “Khamenei’s resignation” and “complete transition from the Islamic Republic.”

Shahlaa Entessari, Nosrat Beheshti, Farshte Tasvibi, Parva (Sakineh) Pachideh, Giti Pourfazel, Ezzat Javadi Hesar, Zahra Jamali, Shahlaa Jahanbin, Fatema Sepehri, Maryam Salamani, Susan Taherkhani, Frangis Mazlum, Narges Mansouri, and Kimia Norouzisaber were the signatories of this letter.

So far, among these individuals, Narges Mansouri, Frangis Mazlum, Fatema Sepehri, Shahlaa Jahanbin, Shahlaa Entessari, Giti Pourfazel, and Zahra Jamali have been arrested.

Previously, security officials of the Islamic Republic accused the signatories of these letters of attempting to design 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 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 solely for performing their duties and profession.

The U.S. State Department also states that the Iranian regime has arrested thousands of protesters, civil activists, and representatives of workers and other groups in the past two years.

Source: Voice of America