Iran has detained more than 3,000 people in recent months on accusations of working with “the enemy,” the country’s judiciary said Monday.
Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told Tehran’s semi-official Student News Network that authorities in the Islamic republic have arrested 3,292 people, including 684 accused of carrying out “operational actions” on behalf of Israel.
Jahangir said another 1,258 detainees have been accused of spreading political propaganda against the state. Prosecutors have issued 1,061 indictments so far in connection with those arrested.
In addition to the arrests, Jahangir said the state has confiscated assets belonging to hundreds of people suspected of betraying the country.
Last week, Iran’s judiciary said it had seized properties belonging to 100 alleged “traitors” in Isfahan province alone, though officials did not release further details about the cases.
The latest crackdown follows the arrest of more than 50,000 people after anti-regime demonstrations in January, protests that were met with a violent response by authorities.
Since then, Tehran has targeted people it describes as traitors, alleging they assisted US-Israeli joint airstrikes during the peak of the conflict.
“As the Zionist enemy (Israel) and the US are attempting to invade Iran, they simultaneously activate mercenaries and spies to carry out riots as the next step,” a provincial branch of the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization said at the time.
Iran, however, has been accused by human rights groups of carrying out mass arrests and coercing false confessions to crack down on critics of the regime.
“[Iran is] using the cover of what they call ‘wartime conditions’ to intensify their repression of dissent through mass arbitrary arrests, accelerated grossly unfair judicial proceedings, politically motivated executions, harsh prison sentences, and asset confiscations.” Amnesty International warned last month.
As of June 8, at least 40 prisoners, including 19 protesters, have been hanged by the state on politically motivated charges since the start of the year, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Group.
