On Wednesday, new reports revealed that the Islamic Republic of Iran has continued its crackdown against dissidents, targeting women's rights, labor union activists, environmentalists, and religious minorities protesting the regime.
In the past few days, there have been reports of the arrests of several female former political prisoners in Tehran, female environmental activists and journalists as well as female writers, and a female animal rights activist in Rasht. Two male relatives of Nine-year-old Kian Pir-Falak and 16-year-old Milad Saeedianjou who were killed in last year’s protests, were arrested after participating in anniversary ceremonies for their loved ones.
Regime security forces raided the home of female journalist and former political prisoner Shaghayegh Moradi in Tehran early this week, seizing her personal belongings and taking her with them to her mother's house to search the area. It is unclear which security entity is responsible for the arrest and where Moradi is being kept. Mahnaz Tarrah, a former political prisoner, was violently arrested on the street and taken to a court near Evin Prison.
Former political prisoner Farzin Rezaei-Roshan, who was with Tarrah at the time of her arrest, stated in a video released on social media that he was assaulted by a dozen security agents who arrested his friend.
Rezaei-Roshan, another individual seen in the video in bloodied clothes, says the security agents used tasers and broke his head before taking his friend away. In Rasht, Iranian writer Rozita Rajaei was arrested over the weekend along with journalists Nasim Tavafzadeh and Helaleh Nateghehseveral days later. The journalists carried out research and wrote about government waste management.
There is very little information on the arrests in Rasht. Iranian writer Nina Golestani's husband said in an Instagram post that his wife was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence organization on her way home from shopping.
In Tehran, Iranian-affiliated media outlets have not reported on the arrests of dissidents and activists, instead labeling them as enemies of the regime. Security forces have engaged in brutal violence against dissidents and activists, confiscating their computers and mobile phones.
Information like the reasons for arrest and place of detention has been withheld from the families of detainees by the authorities.
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