Iran
An Iranian woman walks past a huge anti-US billboard displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 8, 2026. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s judiciary said Sunday four individuals have been arrested and several others have been summoned over alleged activities linked to Israel and the United States, accusing a political circle of attempting to destabilize the country during unrest earlier this year. A semi-official media outlet said three reformist figures were among the arrested. The move comes in the wake of bloody protests across the country.
The judiciary-affiliated Mizan Online reported late Sunday that authorities said charges were filed “following the completion of an investigation into the activities of a movement affiliated with a certain political party,” without identifying the arrested individuals and the party, adding that “elements active in working for the benefit of the Zionist regime and the United States were arrested an hour ago.”
Fars news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), identified three of the arrested individuals as Azar Mansouri, Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, and Mohsen Aminzadeh - three reformist figures.
“The charges against these individuals are stated to include targeting national unity, taking a stance against the constitution, coordinating with enemy propaganda, promoting defeatism, deviating political groups, and creating covert mechanisms for overthrow,” reported the agency.
The arrests follow weeks of protests which have resulted in the death of thousands.
Nationwide protests erupted in Iran late December demanding political and economic reforms. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed, of whom 6,476 have been registered as “protesters,” according to a Sunday report by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). While the official government death toll is 3,000. Some have suggested a much higher death toll.
The rights group also reported that at least 11,022 civilians were injured, and 51,591 arrests were recorded.
The latest arrests come after the individuals signed a late-January statement, backed by 17 prominent activists, calling for a “free, transparent referendum” to establish a democratic government in Iran, as concerns mount over the treatment of political prisoners in Iran, including imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.
Amid this crackdown on activists and protesters, Mohammadi, the 53-year-old Iranian human rights activist who was arrested two months ago, was sentenced to a new prison term of eight years, Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement on Sunday, citing her lawyer, Mostafa Nili.
With these new charges, the foundation said, Mohammadi has now received a cumulative sentence of over 44 years in prison. She currently faces more than 17 years of active imprisonment.
Nili said Mohammadi was hospitalized four days ago due to her poor physical condition and "was subsequently returned to the detention center.”
The foundation warned that issuing what it called retaliatory sentences while denying basic rights amounts to torture and placed Mohammadi’s life “at grave and irreparable risk.”
It also called on international bodies and governments to take urgent action and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of "all prisoners of conscience" in Iran.
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