Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's.
Iran crackdown deepens with speedy executions and arrests
Iran crackdown deepens with speedy executions and arrests
Three Iranians were executed for alleged spying, Iran's judiciary said.
BySahar Zand
This week, three Iranian men were executed on purported charges of collaborating with Israel, as reported by the Islamic Republic judiciary. This brings the total number of individuals executed on similar allegations during the 12-day conflict between Tehran and Tel Aviv to six.
According to Iran's ISNA News Agency, the hangings were part of a "season of traitor-killing," with Iranian authorities hastening the executions less than 48 hours after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel was declared on Monday.
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Shutterstock
The recent crackdown comes in the wake of a conflict with Israel, which Iranian officials claim resulted in at least 627 fatalities and 4,870 injuries, alongside significant damage to infrastructure throughout the nation.
Despite this turmoil, Iran's current regime continues to hold onto power, even as many analysts had predicted a potential regime change following the destruction of military facilities and the deaths of numerous high-ranking military officials, compounded by uncertainties regarding the health and location of the Iranian supreme leader.
Considering the country's history in similar circumstances over nearly fifty years of governance, numerous human rights advocates and Iranians within the nation perceive this "defeated and wounded" period as possibly the regime's most perilous, particularly concerning repression.
Several Iranians opposed to the war expressed to ABC News their fears that the regime may retaliate against the populace.
"I cried once when the war began, and again when the ceasefire was declared," shared a 37-year-old woman from Rasht, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, with ABC News. "We fear the Islamic Republic just as much as we fear Israel."
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Shutterstock
Over the course of the 12-day conflict, Iranian intelligence and security forces said they arrested more than 700 people accused of having ties to Israel, according to state affiliate PressTV earlier this week.
Sharing deep concerns about the safety of the human rights activists, journalists and women, Pourzand said the regime has already "accelerated its execution machine."
Israeli officials have not commented on those arrested for alleged ties to Israel but Mossad Chief David Barnea said this week the Israeli intelligence agency would continue to keep a "close eye" on Iran.
"We will continue to keep a close eye on all the projects in Iran that we know very well. We will be there(in Iran), as we have been there until now," Barnea said.
Additionally, on June 25, Iran's judiciary announced changes to what it called the "Espionage Law for Dealing with Citizens," with the Intelligence Ministry announcing the formation of a new special committee tasked with monitoring citizens' online activities -- a campaign state media has labeled an "intelligence jihad," highlighting it as part of a broader "national defense" effort.
"There are security forces out patrolling the streets in full force. We hardly dare go out," Samira, a 23-year-old student activist in Tehran, told ABC News. "It's an extremely terrifying time. I think we're about to enter a phase of further paralysis and suffocation."
Pourzand -- the human rights advocate -- described the post-war atmosphere as a "systematic and rigid form of repression," warning that the new surveillance measures will further tighten control over public dissent and personal freedoms.
"This is collective punishment against ordinary people … in order to make a point and instill fear domestically, and to make points internationally," she said.
For critics, the Islamic Republic's response follows a well-worn pattern.
"This regime has mastered how to own the narrative over the past 47 years," Pourzand said. "They use all sorts of tools -- misinformation, disinformation."
The conflict has stirred mixed emotions among Iranians, many of whom are still grappling with the trauma of the state's crackdown that followed the 2022 nationwide "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests that were ignited after the tragic death of Mahsa Jina Amini in police custody.
The crackdown left hundreds killed, thousands imprisoned and several executed. The uprising followed years of repression and economic hardship made worse by U.S.-led sanctions on top of widespread regime corruption that has only deepened the public's frustration and despair.
Some Iranians initially viewed Israel's early rhetoric about "freeing Iranians" from dictatorship with hope.
UGC/AFP via Getty Images
"The Islamic Republic represents a totalitarian regime … which has resulted in decades of devastation, insecurity, and regional turmoil," Parham, 36, informed ABC News. "Assisting the Iranian populace in their pursuit of freedom is not merely a moral obligation but also a route to peace, prosperity, and stability in the region."
Nonetheless, not everyone holds the same view.
"It would be naive to think that Israel's aim was ever to liberate us from this regime," Samira remarked. "They have made it evident that their sole objective was to dismantle Iran's nuclear capabilities."
On Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public appearance since the onset of the war, emerging after weeks of absence to deliver a pre-recorded televised address to the nation.
"This is one of the greatest divine blessings," Khamenei stated, referring to the Iranian armed forces breaching multiple layers of Israeli defense systems during the recent conflict. "It demonstrates to the Zionist regime that any aggression against the Islamic Republic will incur a cost -- a significant cost -- and thankfully, that is precisely what transpired."
However, some now worry that Khamenei's "significant cost" will ultimately be borne by Iranian citizens, as global attention shifts elsewhere, leaving them vulnerable to a regime intent on demonstrating its continued control.
"What has already begun is quite horrific," Pourzand expressed. "Regrettably, I believe what lies ahead will be even worse."
0 Comments