Members of Iranian charity group arrested "on complaint from IRGC's Sarallah headquarters"

In the first statement it issued after the arrest of its founder and two members, the "Imam Ali Popular Student Relief Society" said that they were arrested following a complaint from the IRGC's Sarallah headquarters, on charges of "insulting" the leader and founder of the Islamic Republic and "acting against national security."

The charity's statement emphasized that despite a previous agreement, the detainees have not been released on bail, it is unclear where they are, and "there has been virtually no official response to this matter."

According to the statement, Sharmin Maimandinejad, the founder of this charitable organization, Katayoun Afrazeh, the inspector, and Morteza Kaymanesh, its public relations officer, were arrested "in parallel," while Mr. Maimandinejad's house was searched for "more than four hours."

Sharmin Maimandinejad is accused of "insulting" the leader and founder of the Islamic Republic, and Ms. Afrazeh and Mr. Kaymanesh are accused of "acting against national security."

According to the Imam Ali Charity Association, after searching the home of the founder of the organization, security and judicial forces accompanied him to the organization's office, disabled the cameras, and took all financial and administrative documents, computers, and servers.

The statement also stated that during the arrest of Morteza Kaymanesh, "security forces resorted to violence and beatings, and their alleged judicial warrant to search the house was not fully observed."

Ms. Afraza was also arrested after visiting the place where Morteza Kaymanesh was being detained.

The Iranian charity speculated that the only pretext for entering the community members' homes and offices was "to gather information so that subsequent accusations could be based on this possible information."

Over the past few hours, some media outlets close to the Revolutionary Guard have published reports about the arrests of July 1.

Fars News Agency, among other things, claimed that the founder of the charity "cooperated with anti-Iranian centers and hostile media outlets to cover up public benefit actions."

The news agency did not provide an explanation about “anti-Iranian centers and hostile media.” The accusations raised in the charity’s first statement also did not make such accusations against Mr. Maimandinejad.

Tasnim News Agency also published a similar report, saying that the founder and members of the Imam Ali Society intended to "put pressure on the country and the Iranian nation" by making "claims such as fighting discrimination, as well as human rights issues, and fighting poverty and social problems."

In its statement, the "Imam Ali Popular Student Relief Society" called for the immediate and unconditional release of its members and emphasized that it "does not consider any kind of case-making or slander acceptable."

This organization is an official charitable institution in Iran that began its activities in the late 1990s.

The Imam Ali Society, as it says itself, is "an independent, non-political, and non-governmental non-governmental organization."

The foundation had previously reported "threatening" phone calls to a number of its members while assisting citizens, including in the wake of the widespread floods of 2019.

None of the Islamic Republic's official or judicial authorities have yet taken a position on the recent events, and the accusations have not been officially made public.

The Imam Ali Charity Foundation said its activities "have not stopped."

Source: Radio Farda