Arrests of Iranian citizens on charges of espionage begin

The arrest of dozens of people in various cities in Iran indicates the beginning of a severe wave of arrests of citizens on charges of espionage.

After the ceasefire was broken, the Judiciary Spokesperson announced in a statement that the law has been relaxed to intensify the treatment of citizens accused of espionage.

On June 24, Ali Asghar Jahangir, spokesman for the judiciary, said in a press conference in Tehran, referring to the arrest of dozens of people in different cities of Iran on charges of espionage: "If we wanted to try many of the people we arrested during the war with Israel under the current espionage law, we would face limitations and excuses; but the parliament gave us the freedom to punish infiltrators and spies in a way that teaches a lesson."

Last Monday, the Islamic Consultative Assembly approved the outline of a plan titled “A Plan to Increase Punishment for Espionage and Collaborators with the Zionist Regime and Hostile States.” According to the plan, “any intelligence and espionage activity is considered corruption on earth and its punishment is death.”

The approval of this bill coincided with the announcement of the execution of Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh on charges of collaborating with Israel. In addition to Mohammad Amin's execution, the judiciary has executed three other Iranian citizens in less than ten days on charges of spying for Israel.

A review of reports on the charges against the three individuals who have been executed since the start of the Iran-Israel war shows that all three were sentenced to death on similar charges and in general terms, and that their trials were held behind closed doors, and that no clear and accurate information about their trial process is available. The only information published is that released by the Iranian judiciary, which emphasizes that the full procedural process was followed for the defendants.

Majid Musaibi was one of the executed individuals who was executed behind closed doors on Sunday, July 21, and details of his charges are not available. The judiciary announced about his execution: “Majid Musaibi was arrested and tried with intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of Israel on charges of war and corruption on earth, and was executed after going through the full process of criminal procedure and confirming and finalizing the verdict in the Supreme Court.”

Before the approval of this plan, the Islamic Republic regime had repeatedly arrested its critics and opponents on charges of espionage, and had even sentenced them to death through harsh trials and forced confessions, and had sent them to the gallows. The case of Maziar Ebrahimi was one of those controversial cases in which he was forced to make a false confession against himself in the case of the "assassination of nuclear scientists". After some time, he revealed that he was later paid compensation to withdraw his complaint.

Despite the fact that the general outline of the espionage plan has been approved by the parliament and the details of the plan have not yet been put on the agenda, security and military institutions have taken action to arrest citizens on charges of espionage. On Tuesday, July 25, the Hamedan IRGC announced the arrest of six people on charges of publishing information about the Israeli attacks in cyberspace.

The Kermanshah prosecutor also announced today the arrest of 115 citizens in the province on charges of “propaganda against the system and security.” He also claimed that a European spy had also been arrested, but did not disclose any information about his identity.

The head of the intelligence police in Qom province also claimed that 22 Israeli spies had been arrested in Qom. At the same time, the deputy public prosecutor and revolutionary of Yazd also announced that a foreign spy linked to Mossad had been arrested in the province.

After the start of the Israel-Iran war, a wave of arrests, executions, a nationwide internet shutdown, restrictions on information, and the detention of critics, opponents of the regime, and media and civil activists, the political atmosphere has become more closed and pressure on civil activists, the public, and even artists has intensified.

Media activists and social media users expressed their concern about the current situation, and most of their discussions centered around the idea that if the Islamic Republic regime does not fall and the government remains in power, the likelihood of arrests, repression, mass executions, and arrests will be much greater than before, and the Iranian people will endure great pressures, even beyond the arrests and repression of the nationwide protests in 1401.